Help me lose it!

unreg10

Hi guys, just looking for some help and opinions.

I’m 29, male.
Height: 6ft 2”
Weight: 16st 10.5lbs
I have never drank or smoked.







I’m trying to lose some weight but also be a bit more defined. From the waist up is my problem area. I hate the bit of a gut I have and the layer of fat on my back, so that’s what I really want to get rid of.

I play 6 a side soccer on astro turf 3 nights a week so I don’t think I’m totally unfit. I have started a diet which consists of:

Breakfast:
2 slices of brown bread toast with flora light spread and 1 boiled egg.
Snack:
2 oranges or maybe an apple
Lunch:
A brown bread ham and cheese sandwich, or veg soup and a roll or maybe some of the pervious evenings dinner like sweet and sour chicken etc.

Dinner:
Sweet and sour chicken with brown rice, or 2 fish cakes and a yogurt (activa) or some kind of stir fry or sometimes I just eat a can of tuna and a yogurt.
Lots of water is consumed throughout the day.


My routine at the gym is:
I don’t know the proper names for all the machines but I’ll do my best to explain.
Warm up on the treadmill, 15 mins at 8miles per hour.
Then I got to the chest machine and do 10 reps at 62.5kgs then 10 more at 75kg
I use all the upper body machines use the same weights and reps. Then I move out to the abs cruncher and do 40 crunches regular then 20 with my legs bent and turned down to the left then the same on the right.
Back to more arm machines, 4 of them again same weights and reps again and then I get on a bike and do rolling hills at intensity 12 for 15 mins then re due the crunches.

This all takes about 1 hour and 45 mins.

I’m looking for any help that I could get with both the diet and the routine, changes I should make etc?
Could someone tell me what a food diary is for and how it would benefit me if I kept one?

paky

how much weight do you need to loose?

unreg10

Around a stone, maybe a stone and a half, the weight doesnt really bother me its more about getting rid of the gut, love handles and slight man boobs! I'dlike to be more defined.

paky

if you want to be more defined yo need to do weights around three times a week. more muscle less fat

Skuxx

Good luck with this! I'b be interested to read some of the other replies to this thread offering advice as I'm in a similar position to you!!
I'm 13 stone exactly but quite a bit shorter than you so we have about the same figure which I would like to loose the gut/love handles etc!!

XDivaX

Sorry this is off thread but it may help you to look a wee bit more defined if you would wax chest/tum! :rolleyes:

jt_dublin

I would recommend taking a few sessions with a personal trainer in the gym. I was in a similar shape to you a few years ago. I didnt know much about weightlifting and also caused myself injury through bad technique.

The personal trainer discussed by goals, put some routines together, showed me the correct technique and talked about diet, nutrition and supplementation.

I also got away from a lot of the weight machines and started using free weights. My routine now includes squats, deadlifts, pull ups, bench press etc.. Free weights will work your core muscles a lot more than the machines and this will help give you tone & definition. There is no mention of any leg exercises in your routine. I know that you want to tone your upper body, but don't neglect your legs. They are huge muscles and the more active muscle you have on your body, the more calories your body will burn to feed the muscle. This will also increase your testosterone levels which is needed to build muscle all over.

Also, you are in the gym for a long time. Do you take long rest periods between each set? I try to keep my rest to around 1 minute between sets. This keeps the heart rate up, burns more fat and will work the muscles harder. Most experienced guys that I know are in & out of the gym in 1 hour.

Your diet could also be a bit better... there's lots of calories & sugar in Sweet & Sour sauces. I think you also need more protein. 1 boiled egg in the morning and a slice of ham in a sandwich at lunch time is very little until you get some decent quantity protein at dinner.

Best of luck.

unreg10

paky wrote: »

if you want to be more defined yo need to do weights around three times a week. more muscle less fat

Do you mean free weights or just machines?

XDivaX wrote: »

Sorry this is off thread but it may help you to look a wee bit more defined if you would wax chest/tum! :rolleyes:

Lol! Had that done twice before and didnt mind the pain during but it was a few days after I got a load of these red little dots like small spots, they were sore! Might get it done for the "after" shots!

jt_dublin wrote: »

I would recommend taking a few sessions with a personal trainer in the gym. I was in a similar shape to you a few years ago. I didnt know much about weightlifting and also caused myself injury through bad technique.

The personal trainer discussed by goals, put some routines together, showed me the correct technique and talked about diet, nutrition and supplementation.

I also got away from a lot of the weight machines and started using free weights. My routine now includes squats, deadlifts, pull ups, bench press etc.. Free weights will work your core muscles a lot more than the machines and this will help give you tone & definition. There is no mention of any leg exercises in your routine. I know that you want to tone your upper body, but don't neglect your legs. They are huge muscles and the more active muscle you have on your body, the more calories your body will burn to feed the muscle. This will also increase your testosterone levels which is needed to build muscle all over.

Also, you are in the gym for a long time. Do you take long rest periods between each set? I try to keep my rest to around 1 minute between sets. This keeps the heart rate up, burns more fat and will work the muscles harder. Most experienced guys that I know are in & out of the gym in 1 hour.

Your diet could also be a bit better... there's lots of calories & sugar in Sweet & Sour sauces. I think you also need more protein. 1 boiled egg in the morning and a slice of ham in a sandwich at lunch time is very little until you get some decent quantity protein at dinner.

Best of luck.

Thanks for your reply, I dont think there is a personnal trainer in my gym but will see if I can do a few sessions in another with one. I have never used the big barbel thing becuase I dont know how to and dont want to get injured.

Will take out some of the machine exersies and use the free weights instead.

No I dont take any breaks between exersies, I keep moving to keep the heart rate up, just takes that long, hope the PT will help me with this.

I did think I was ignoring my legs, running and the bike? I do the inner and outter tighs on 2 different machines also but there are other leg machines I could use.

Ya I think my diet could be better too, just not sure what to had, do u think I should have a protien bar during the day or something?

paky

look one protein bar a day isnt gona cut it. if your serious you need to be eating six meals a day with protein and carbohydrate.
invest in some bodybuilding books. i know you dont want to be a bodybuilder but there is a good wealth of info in those books on how to get ripped.
you need to organise a weekly timetable for going to the gym and stick to it. 5 days a week would be good. dont worry too much about cardio at the beginning. focus on building muscle first

jt_dublin

If you are playing soccer 3 nights per week, that may be enough cardio for you, depending on how intense you play. 6 a-side is usually quite intense as you dont get much chance to rest during the game.

I would concentrate on weights about 3 times per week. If you cant get to the gym 3 times per week, a trainer could give you a home routine to do that incorporates weights & cardio. You would just need to get some dumbells for home use.

Ask at the gym if they have a personal trainer or if they know of one. If not, then post the name of your gym on here and someone should be able to recommend someone in the area.

You say that you do a 15 minute warmup before. I would reduce this and save that energy for your weights workout. 5 minutes rowing at a moderate pace will have all your muscles warmed up & ready to ripped apart!

The barbell can be scary at first and I would advise to only use it after you've gotten some good instruction. I only use the barbell for squats, deadlifts, military press etc.. For bench press I much prefer dumbells. You then dont have the worry of the dumbells falling on you in the same way you do with the barbell. Also if you do get into using free weights and doing compound movements, these will incorporate a lot of core work and you wont need to spend so much time doing abs as they will have already been worked hard. I only about 5 to 10 minutes of abs on 2 of my 3 gym days.

If you can, get your protein from natural food sources. I eat a small tin of tuna and some almonds (about 15 or 20) mid-morning. I buy the almonds in a big 1kg bag and this lasts me for about 2 months! I would advise eating 5 or 6 smaller meals per day instead of 3 large ones if possible.

In the stickies, there is a lot more advice on diet & nutrition.

You also asked about a food diary. I use http://www.fitday.com to keep track of my food, activities & weight. As I tend to eat mostly the same food each week, I have set up most of the food as custom food rather that taking their pre-set ones. After you put in all your foods & activities, it will give you a breakdown of calories consumed, calories used for your normal daily living plus your activities. And it will give you a breakdown of your carbs, protein & fats.