2 month cut progress and future suggestions

RE: 2 month cut progress and future suggestions (J2K)

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 11:25:24 GMT

Thanks for the suggestions. I entered some numbers, and it does look like I should start eating about 2600 calories/day. I'll start doing that and see if it makes a difference. Is the 40/40/20 protien/carbs/fat a good split? or should I try to switch that up a bit too?

I'm not stranger to squats and leg workouts, as I played football in high school and used to squat in the area of 550lbs. I'd never do that again though, as my knees aren't the same as they used to be. The main problem with a leg workout is that I train at home, and don't have all of the proper equipment. My bench posts do raise up, so I guess I could use it as a squat rack and just do big reps at lower weights or something.

In reading further on this forum, I need to change up my workout too, as I've been doing pretty much the same weight training exercises for every workout. I need to figure out what exercises I can do with my current equipment, buy some more equipment, or break down and actually join a gym again.

RE: 2 month cut progress and future suggestions (cpl)

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 20:03:17 GMT

Two major suggestions- Work your way into a leg and back workout. Squats, deadlifts, bent over rows, stiff leg deadlifts- All of these are excellent compound movements that build (and use) more muscle than most exercises out there. Especially the squats and deadlifts. Start out nice and light, and make sure you get the form right on these- A lot of people are scared to do some of these exercises, but as long as you stay light until you're sure of your form, once you start adding some weight to this routine, you'll be doing your body a huge favor- Done right, this workout will make your legs and back bombproof, besides boosting your weight loss and muscle gain immensely.
Next, your nutrition- It actually sounds like you're probably not eating enough, believe it or not- Check out the top of the nutrition forum for the thread called "Calculate expenditure" and use the info in there to figure out how many calories you really need to burn fat efficiently- If you're not eating enough, your body could actually feel like it's starving, so it'll try to hang on to as much fat as possible- Which is why you were able to eat one or two meals a day in the past, and still stay fat.
anyway- Sounds like you're doing great so far, keep up the good work!

2 month cut progress and future suggestions (J2K)

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 10:52:09 GMT

So... I decided I'd get back into some decent physical condition this year. I started a few weeks into January at 5'9" and a whopping 259lbs (first time I'd stepped on a scale in years). Anyways, now I'm about 2 months in down to 232 lbs, with a goal of 200lbs for now (haven't been there since high school, I'm 30 years old now).

I've changed my diet, to eat at least 5 meals a day (sometimes I'll get 6 in), which is up from 1 or 2 meals a day. My typical diet is around 2000 cal/day, with a 40% protien, 40% carbs, and 20% fat breakdown. Typically 1 meal is a replacement bar (Promax), and I'll have a protien shake with breakfast and then another for a snack later in the evening.

I've started doing some weight training at home, Bench, Lat pulldowns, curls, tricep pushdowns, crunches 3x per week (each exercise 3 sets of 12-15 reps). I've been doing cardio 3-4x per week on a treadmill, ranging from steady 1-2 mile runs or walking or some type of sprint/jog exercises. Then I also play competitive volleyball 3x per week. As it warms up, I'll start adding in some bike riding too.

I do my workouts, both weight training and cardio, first thing in the morning... thought lately I've had a protien shake (ON 100%) pre-workout. So sometimes I almost split up breakfast as both pre/post workout meals. Would I benefit from changing workout times? or is first thing in the morning OK?

Typical meals:

1/2 cup Oats
2 scoop whey w/ice + banana

cottage cheese
turkey sandwich w/lowfat cheese on 9 grain bread
couple pickles
(sometimes 2 servings of turkey, no bread)

salad (mixed greens) w/chicken breast
lowfat dressing (usually just 2 good flavors)

brown rice
chicken breast

cottage cheese
pear or apple

1 scoop whey shake w/1% organic milk + ice

Any comments/suggestions?