Advice Requested

Iago

Ok, I'm looking to lose weight and tone up. Ideally I'd like to keep eating as much as I want of whatever I want and avoid exercise if at all possible. Any ideas on how I could go about losing around 25lbs?

On a more serious note I am genuinely looking to shift some excess fat from my stomach. I'm around 1.5 - 2 stone overweight at the moment. It's not "too" obvious in my day to day live but it's enough to make me uncomfortable when it comes to my body and in particular when I consider that I want to be playing soccer for the rest of the season. In addition due to a bad diet and lack of motivation I find myself very run down and lethargic and I'm looking to break out of this cycle.

So I'm looking for advice on the following;

1. What's the best or a good multivitimin to take daily?

2. Are there any other supplements that either increase energy or metabolism that you would recommend?

3. I'm going back to the gym but any of the instructors I've spoken to are very focused on weight training and don't seem to understand or advocate good cardio programs. Can anybody here give me an idea of a good workout for an excercise bike or rowing machine? I'm limited when it comes to the treadmill at the moment as I'm recovering from some ankle problems.

4. If I want to increase the toning and definition of my arms and chest, do I need to do complimentary weights exercises for other areas? My chest and arms have always been quite big (due to working in construction in the past) and now that I've stopped working there and I'm not working out, they are starting to move from muscle to flab at an alarming rate!

I just want to tone them and get the definition back but if I stick to just chest press and bicep/tricep curls is there any risk of damage or anything like that..

I'm hoping to go back to the gym tonight and any advice or direction would be appreciated.

Iago

ok, so either people aren't taking me seriously or maybe the expertise required isn't here. Anyway a quick update..

I've had two gym sessions since my post as well as a mid intensity football training session this morning. Feeling a bit better in myself, but needless to say I'm still not performing at anywhere near where I want to be.

For my gym sessions I did 30 minutes on the excercise bike at level 5 and kept the RPM between 75-85 on this level.

I followed this by doing 15 minutes on the rowing machine level 6 and with a stroke per minute of between 30-35. Finished up with a few minutes of stretching.

I've also removed carbonated drinks and bread from my diet over the last 5-6 days and I've managed to lose 2lbs already. This has given me a boost, but I would still really appreciate any advice I can get on vitamins, supplements and any cardio programs that will help me reach my goal.

Anybody got any pointers on this or on dietary help?

bohsboy

Well I'm no expert but it seems to me that you're doing all the right things. Keep the alcohol intake down to a minimum and weight should drop off also. Cardio programs are excellent fat burners and will change the shape of your body fairly quickly.

As for the weights, I'm not sure, people say the weights are great for toning up and highering your metabolism, resulting in more calories being burned off even when you rest. Slower results.

The key thing is tho, keeping it up, you've done the hard part which was realising the problem and putting a plan in action, it's all about keeping to it.

Dont worry about which programs are better than others, as long as you stay active and keep the heart pounding you'll see results.

Good luck anyway.

seamus

Sorry, I'll do your original post first..

3. I'm going back to the gym but any of the instructors I've spoken to are very focused on weight training and don't seem to understand or advocate good cardio programs.

I found the same. Any programs recommended tend to be very focussed on weights and not so much on cardio. I'm convinced they do it on purpose - A man joins a gym, gets a program done out for him, loads of weights, and finds two weeks later that he's got better muscle strength, tone and definition, so stays with the gym. A cardio program wouldn't have the same effect of making a guy feel "manly"

Either that or the type of people who work in a gym are the type of people who use a gym for mostly weight training, and don't really know a whole load about cardio.

Note that anything I say here couldn't be considered "experienced". I'm just sharing my own observations since getting into the whole fitness thing last Autumn.

I've had two gym sessions since my post as well as a mid intensity football training session this morning. Feeling a bit better in myself, but needless to say I'm still not performing at anywhere near where I want to be.

I was (and probably still am) much less fit than you are. I found when I started going to the gym that just exercising was the hard part. The thought of cardio was enough to break me out in a sweat. I was finding that although my recovery time had shot up, I was still sweating and breathless from the same amount of exercise, that is it wasn't getting any easier. It's only the last couple of weeks (after 6 weeks in the gym) that I've noticed things becoming easier quicker. I've had to actually relearn how to push myself - before I was just considering it a job well done if I managed 2000m on the rower without packing it in.

I've also removed carbonated drinks and bread from my diet over the last 5-6 days and I've managed to lose 2lbs already. This has given me a boost, but I would still really appreciate any advice I can get on vitamins, supplements and any cardio programs that will help me reach my goal.

Anybody got any pointers on this or on dietary help?

2lbs sounds good. That's healthy weight loss. You say you want to lose ~25lbs? At this rate, you'll be 25lbs lighter in around 3 months. That's got to spur you on.
If you're going to seriously track your weight, it can be very easy to get disheartened. Your body weight fluctuates a surprising amount during the day/week, depending on loads of variables. If you're tracking your weight, you'll need to take your weight preferably at the same time every time. Before or after sleeping is usually best. Don't get upset if you notice you seem to be 1lb up one morning. Another morning you'll find you're 1.5lbs down.
As you know, weight loss is something you're in for the long haul. Regardless of what anyone thinks, you cannot gain or lose 2lbs overnight under anything but life-threateningly severe conditions.