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My weight has been a never-ending struggle for me. From back in my early high school days (2001-2003) when I played basketball regularly I was around 5'8", 175lbs, playing ball everyday, drinking plenty of water, burning a lot of calories. Then when I got my first job in 2003 at a grocery store in town I stopped doing those things and started to eat...a LOT. I'm talking about buying a large box of Cheez-Its and a 64oz bottle of Gatorade and going through all of that...on a half hour lunch break...EVERY DAY! Not to mention the fact that when I got off work I would stop at McDonalds and pick up a Super Sized Double Quarter Pounder meal (back when that option was still on the menu). That combined with that I stopped exercising almost completely caused my weight to shoot up from 175 to over 250lbs in a year and a half. It was pretty ridiculous. So it was probably a blessing in disguise when I stopped working there in 2005.
Fast forward two years, early 2007, I now around 190 lbs. Being unemployed (and later high school dropout) those two years, I didn't have the avenues to either continue my horrible eating habits, so my weight naturally dropped. Still not satisfied, I purchased a gym membership, with hopes to get back to my playing weight in high school...that didn't last long. I stopped going after three weeks. My motivation wasn't there and with a bunch of different things going on at the time (moving to a new state, girlfriend being pregnant, getting laid off from two jobs I had, moving back home to my parents), I just couldn't find the time to go...actually to be honest, I didn't have it as a priority as much as I should have.
So its summer 2007 now, and I'm back home starting a new job as a Valet Driver at a hotel. SO I'm thinking that its the best of both worlds, I can get exercise (running for cars) while getting paid. I was there for six weeks when I got promoted to a Bellman position. Damn. So much for that idea. Because I wasn't prioritizing exercise and not really getting it at work (I was getting some lifting however with handling luggage), my weight started to trend upward again. Constantly fluctuating between 220-245lbs over the next five years.
As of today I am at the high-end of that range (exactly 245lbs at the time of this post), but now I am prioritizing weight loss as my goal for the future. Which is why I am posting this on TL. I currently have a gym membership that I have picked up last week and I have been going there for the last few days, it is amazing how much strength that I am lacking in areas of my body compared to the rest. Because weight loss is the main goal, I am focusing on cardio moreso than heavy lifting, although lifting will be a definite part of my training regimen. I figure I would make up a few training goals that I would like to reach by next summer.
- Weight: >200lbs (I want to be able to cross the 200lb threshold and keep my weight there for the first time in over 5 years.)
- Mile run (treadmill): 8:00 or less (I've ran a sub 8:00/mi ONCE in my life. And to this day I have no idea how I did it, sophomore year HS I ran a 7:52 on 4 laps of the track.)
- Pullups: 10 or more (I can't do pullups, let me repeat that, I CANNOT do a single pullup. So to be able to do one completely would be a miracle in itself)
- Bench press: 20 reps (at the NFL combine standard 225lbs)
- I will also like to compete in a 5k run locally as well. I have no plans of being a distance runner, although I would love to be able to run in a marathon before I'm 30.
So yeah, those are some of my goals of where I want to be nine months from now. With my 26th birthday coming up, to quote Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon "I'm getting too old for this shit". It's time to get serious about where I want to be at. Wish me luck.
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If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to run only on a treadmill, and what is your bench press currently at?
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20 reps of 225lbs bench press, you have to be kidding me?!
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Go to the health and fitness section here, it's great
good luck, but i think you have lots of misconceptions about weight loss, etc. it's really important that you relearn everything, or you'll end up getting subpar results, wont be motivated, or injure yourself
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On September 07 2012 05:48 farvacola wrote:
If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to run only on a treadmill, and what is your bench press currently at?
The treadmill will be as a part of my regular workout regimen and I would be able to accurately time it as well. I also plan on jogging locally in my hometown. Treadmill at the gym just makes it easier especially when winter season comes
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On September 07 2012 05:48 sc4k wrote:
20 reps of 225lbs bench press, you have to be kidding me?!
Yeah I pretty much pulled that number out of my ass, I can do 3-4 reps now. Just a long range goal.
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On September 07 2012 05:51 aRyuujin wrote:
Go to the health and fitness section here, it's great
good luck, but i think you have lots of misconceptions about weight loss, etc. it's really important that you relearn everything, or you'll end up getting subpar results, wont be motivated, or injure yourself
Yeah I know it sounds like I'm reaching with these goals, the most important thing for me is that I want to be in the habit of working out and training on a regular basis and sticking with it.
H&F is a great subforum. I've been looking over it the last few days I will be taking a lot from there as well.
I'm not going to overexert myself. No worries there. I also understand that dieting is a MAJOR part of weight loss as well. That will come soon enough.
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You're 5'8'' and 175 is your low end? Hot damn, you must be built like a tank.
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I'm sure that I've read (maybe right here on teamliquid) that cardio being better for losing weight is just a myth, and weightlifting is actually better. I can't really say myself, as I've always hated cardio and I just prefer lifting weights, but it has helped a lot.
You will, at some point be in that spot where you're not really fat but not really muscly either and you'll probably look horrible, but once you get past that point, it'll only get better. Muscles also burn calories just by existing, as they require maintenance, especially leg muscles, as they're the biggest.
Good luck with weight loss!
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On September 07 2012 06:01 Incze wrote:
I'm sure that I've read (maybe right here on teamliquid) that cardio being better for losing weight is just a myth, and weightlifting is actually better. I can't really say myself, as I've always hated cardio and I just prefer lifting weights, but it has helped a lot.
You will, at some point be in that spot where you're not really fat but not really muscly either and you'll probably look horrible, but once you get past that point, it'll only get better. Muscles also burn calories just by existing, as they require maintenance, especially leg muscles, as they're the biggest.
Good luck with weight loss!
Well the idea behind the line of thinking that suggests that weight lifting is a better path to weight loss deals with the increased resting caloric demand of lean body mass. In the end, it comes down to subjective fit; if one finds it easier to motivate themselves to hit the weights 4-6 times a week as opposed to 4-6 sessions of cardio, than opting for the lifting is a better choice. Of course, mixing cardio with lifting is most ideal.
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The key to losing large amount of weight, and becoming healthier, has to do a lot more with food intake than working out. I recently dropped from 275lbs to 212lbs. (6ft tall if you were wondering). I did very minimal "working out", most of it was increasing h2o intake, and just eating less.
And when I say recently (I mean in the past 9months)
Don't worry about the pullups + chinups for now, that'll come far more naturally when you've dropped weight. I use to be able to do only 1 pull up when I was 275, now I can do 5, now that I'm 212.
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Lol well good luck anyway man. It's all about commitment. Look up Kai Greene on Youtube he's my favourite for the psychological instruction in the process  , his philosophy is great and inspiring.
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On September 07 2012 05:59 Jerubaal wrote:
You're 5'8'' and 175 is your low end? Hot damn, you must be built like a tank.
Yeah I was thinking that 175 is already a little big for 5'8'' (although I don't know if it's muscle or fat, as he was apparently playing sports). I'm 5'8''-ish and I'm a good 20-25 pounds less than that. OP's BMI is slightly overweight at that time (http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/).
PhillyWild, if you're serious about getting into shape, go into the Health and Fitness section of TL. Lots of good threads in there. Learn to eat right, and learn how to exercise properly. Good luck, and don't pussy out! (Ask the experts in those threads for realistic benchmarks and goals as well; I don't know if yours are ideal for your current situation.)
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On September 07 2012 06:19 wei2coolman wrote:
The key to losing large amount of weight, and becoming healthier, has to do a lot more with food intake than working out. I recently dropped from 275lbs to 212lbs. (6ft tall if you were wondering). I did very minimal "working out", most of it was increasing h2o intake, and just eating less.
And when I say recently (I mean in the past 9months)
Don't worry about the pullups + chinups for now, that'll come far more naturally when you've dropped weight. I use to be able to do only 1 pull up when I was 275, now I can do 5, now that I'm 212.
This.
You need to work out the details of your diet moreso than your gym routine. Also, this forum isn't great for this kind of stuff. Bodybuilding.com has tremendous diet and workout programs for all skill levels and starting points. Good Luck.
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I'm doing something similar. I haven't become particularly overweight, but I'm not fit. Sorry, I only do the metric system, but my "fit and healthy" weight is around 85 KG (187 pounds) and I'm 189 CM tall (6'2). That's about what I want to weight when I do a half marathon sometime next year. Leading up to my wedding I did 9 months of extreme muscle-gain gym work with a personal trainer, eating mad amount of protein. I bulked up to 99.8 KG (220 pounds) but just before the wedding I got pretty sick (due to the overdose on protein shakes...) and I quit the gym entirely. Over a year onwards I'm around 210 pounds but the muscle has gone and it's just flab now.
So I'm going to the gym too; but I'm not doing any weights; just treadmill and stretching, and on the weekend I run outside. I don't think doing heavy weight lifting is particularly effective as weight loss. If I was going to do weights, it'd be light weights with cardio involved... like a rotation kind of thing that gets the heart rate up. That's the key; heart rate consistently at a high (but not excessive) level.
And as for diet; I've upped my meals to 5-6 a day. I'm eating fresh vegetables, soft cheese, some wholemeal crackers, sometimes salami for morning tea and afternoon tea and I'm trying to cut down on desserts and fast food for dinners but usually give in once a week. Only lost about 2 pounds so far but it's only been a couple of weeks.
I highly recommend eating 5-6 meals a day. My mum (mom) did that, not even eating particularly healthy food, and she lost a tonne of weight simply because it kickstarts your metabolism. Also; drink plenty of water.
I realise you didn't ask for advice... apologies if I seem patronising.
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Like what a lot of people already said... DIET, diet... diet! Eat 5-6 meals of nutritious foods and don't pig out. Discipline yourself into not eating fatty foods and starting eating real food.
Only reason why I mentioned diet so much is because you seem mainly concerned about "working out", but working out isn't going to help if you don't fix your diet.
*EDIT* I weigh like 165 at 5'10, but I want to get to 155 like my boys Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. I doubt that I would get 155 but we all can have goals right? 
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On September 07 2012 05:59 Jerubaal wrote:
You're 5'8'' and 175 is your low end? Hot damn, you must be built like a tank.
Yeah everyone says that I'm built like a football player more than anything with my bone structure.
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To clarify, working out is only gonna be a part of my overall plans. Dieting is a very important part as well and I am currently in the process of improving my dietary decisions and choices. (No more late night runs to McDonalds, eating soups and salads on my lunch break at work instead of two slices of pizza and cookies, which the former is slightly more pricey than the latter.) I am trying to motivate myself to cook more at home as well.
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I never understood the connotation that "fast food" is bad. All fast food places offer healthy alternatives. Just don't eat the high caloric items they offer.
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On September 07 2012 08:58 Silentness wrote:Like what a lot of people already said... DIET, diet... diet! Eat 5-6 meals of nutritious foods and don't pig out. Discipline yourself into not eating fatty foods and starting eating real food. Only reason why I mentioned diet so much is because you seem mainly concerned about "working out", but working out isn't going to help if you don't fix your diet. *EDIT* I weigh like 165 at 5'10, but I want to get to 155 like my boys Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. I doubt that I would get 155 but we all can have goals right?
frankie is 155 solid, but ben is more like 170. So don't beat yourself up. Just try to get as muscular as you can with as little body fat that you can sustain and you'll start looking like frankie/ben.
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My Cardio suggestions:
Don't run on a treadmill.
Forget the mile run, and focus on endurance running (30 minutes at least). Move onto interval training afterwards for a more intensive cardio work-out.
Switch it up; don't run only. You don't want to over-exert yourself if you're just starting to run
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The most important things to keep in mind:
Working smart is 10x as important as working hard. You can go run 2 miles every day, still put on weight, and then feel like crap if you don't know what you are doing. Don't think because your entire shirt is drenched in sweat that you are doing things right. Make sure that whatever workout plan you have is backed by research and positive test results.
Motivation. Set reasonable short term goals. If someone's one goal is to do 10 pull ups, yet they can't even do one, its going to be very easy on day 17 to say, "hmmm. I feel really sore and can only do 1 pull up. I think i'll take a break today so i can feel better later. (next day) I feel kinda tired and the game is on tonight so ill just watch that. (Next day) Eh, Ill never reach ten pull ups so what ever." Settings goals and time limits that are reachable can be a great motivation booster.
Good Luck!
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Hey, running wont get you to lose weight fast, but over time it will (speaking about months)...losing much weight really fast is never a good thing anyway. But i do recommend long distance running...even if you wont visibly lose weight you will lose fat eventually, and the other benefits from running are great also.
once you hit the point where you can run 10-15k you will see alot of improvement... and the good about running is that you can clearly see yourself improving run after run.
also, eat healthy...dont cut back on food, just go do more exercise..i knew people who would do alot of sport to lose weight and also eat less..they ended up looking skinny and unhealthy..and thats not what you want...believe me  .
My bmi is 26..i might be a tiny bit overweight...but i can safely bet that i can outrun most of these skinny looking people in a 20k...that alone proves that im probably healthier then they are. (better VO2MAX etc)....being healthy is what its all about.
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As far as running goes, at your weight I wouldn't suggest heavy amounts of running. You'll get shin splints, and high amounts of ankle and knee wear and tear. Swimming is probably the best cardio exercise at your current weight, it burns far more calories, and no risk of weight related injuries.
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Just change your diet until you're at 200 pounds. Get a calorie counter and reduce your caloric intake to around 2000 calories a day. You should be dropping weight pretty fast if you take in those calories with real food (Paleo diet, google it).
When you have reached 200 pounds, not only will you be more motivated, since you have reached your primary goal, you will also be able to do a workout routine with much less danger of hurting yourself. I feel that most people who struggle losing weight, do so because they set their targets to high initially. If you try to eat healthily and restrict caloric intake while simultaneously working out, well it's pretty hard on your body and thus difficult to keep up the motivation.
Just do it step by step. Good luck mate.
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You should see if your gym has free trainer session, most will give you one for free, you can basically be a sponge and absorb all the information from them you need to understand a good workout. Or just think back to your highschool days, the basics are the most important.
Please please reconsider the marathon goal. That is not something you want to train for, and yes you have to train specifically for a marathon. Basically you start by running a set # of miles each day, lets say you're not in very good shape you can start with 5. Yes 5 miles, 5-6 times a week. Then you slowly move up until you're in the 18-21 range. Do you know how long you have to run to run 20 miles? It takes a while, and you have to do it multiple times a week. You don't really run 26 miles until the big race, they say the training will carry you the last part of the race. But keep that in mind, most people who run a marathon that is the first time you run it, it's not like training for the mile race where you might run 5 miles. Blah
anyway I digress. good for you, good to have goals, although don't be afraid to refine them as you yourself said you pulled some things out of your ass. If you are ever feeling lazy about your regimen just remind yourself that "In just 2 days, tomorrow will become yesterday, and you cannot get those days back."
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On September 08 2012 06:39 wei2coolman wrote:
As far as running goes, at your weight I wouldn't suggest heavy amounts of running. You'll get shin splints, and high amounts of ankle and knee wear and tear. Swimming is probably the best cardio exercise at your current weight, it burns far more calories, and no risk of weight related injuries.
Also this, swimming does wonders for your overall cardio/health, but from my own personal experience, it can be a lot harder to actually lose weight by swimming. I THINK swimming is better for maintaining your body in a very low impact way.
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Learning to cook will be the best thing for you. Healty and cheaper At that weight, you can shed almost all of that on diet alone.
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EPT
