[Jeff]

Alright, so I am 31 years old, and in the last few years I've gone from about 170 to 195lb, at 5'7. This is the fattest I've ever been, and it's really disheartening. I need help with motivation, especially when it comes to exercise. My plan is the eat better (already doing that), but also to start running, which I absolutely despise. But I realize that it's really the only way to do it. I've tried everything else, and nothing seems to work like running does.

So my idea is to get a few gentlemen here with similar goals, and to post what we ate each day and what quantity/quality of exercise we did, along with a weekly "weigh-in".

While we can obviously lie a bit since it's over the internet, obviously we'd only be cheating ourselves.

Anyone else think this is a good idea?

Call it "Sevenstring.org Fit Club"!

[tehk]

I think its a great idea. For my personal background, my heaviest was 240lbs at 16 years old. That's a lot of fat. Over 2 years, I've worked my way down to 155lbs. This year, since January, I've been bulking to put on lean muscle mass. I got up to a nice 185lbs, and I dropped down to 170lbs when I was cutting (trimming the fat, but keeping muscle mass). I just finished my cutting cycle, and I realized that I need more mass, so I'm back to bulking.

I'm relatively experienced in terms of diet, training, exercise, motivation, etc... the whole thing . I'd be more then happy to share my knowledge to help benefit any and all the members of this wonderful community.

It would make sense for a 7 stringer shredder to look shredded, don'tcha think?

So this was my basic weight timeline:
Heaviest - 240lbs
Lightest - 155lbs
Bulk 1 - 185lbs
Cut 1 - 170lbs
Bulk 2 - We'll see

Edit:
From what I've seen so far, I thik Jason is another member with some good training experience.

[Leon]

i'm in. i've gained about 15 lbs in the last few months, and it NEEDS to come off! i'm at about 190, want to get back to at least 175, but could stand to lose more. though really, it's not that i want to weight 135, i just want to tone up the fat into muscle.

[tehk]

"i just want to tone up the fat into muscle."

Fat cannot become muscle, as how muscle cannot become fat - as like oil and water. The concept of "toning" is simply adding additional muscle mass, meanwhile lowering your body fat percentage to make the muscle fibers more visible.

[Leon]

i suppose you're not the first who's mistaken me for an idiot

[Leon]

but anyways, i start my new job Thursday, so my first *real* week will be next week, which is when i think i'm going to jump back into my diet/exercise plan. the big thing that i've been going overboard with lately is portions . i've got to cut those back, then i should be able to get back in shape.

it'll essentially be this:
breakfast: grapenuts, oatmeal, with unsweetened soy milk.
lunch: PB&J (natural PB... it has no partially hydrogenated oils) on a wheat bread, or a turkey sandwich, or something similar.
dinner: anything sensible.

as far as exercise, i'm not sure if i'll be running before work or after, but it will be running, and will probably be on a MWF-ish schedule. i have some free weights for upper body toning, but i'd like to wait a while before i get back into those. the running will be easier to start, since i enjoy it. once i get myself into a good routine, i'll add the upper body THS.

i don't know when i'll get internet in my new place... so i may not be able to post things up each day, but i'll do what i can

[tehk]

Rule of Thumb:
If you want to go on a "diet" either to improve your strength, size, and mass, or to lose fat, you MUST eat at least 6 times a day, spaced 2-3 hours apart. The reason behind this is that it keeps your metabolism high and stable throughout the entire day. Instead of the conventional 3 square meals a day, squeeze in 6. I don't mean you eat a salad, a sandwich, and some meat in every single meal. Traditionally, you would get your "3 square meals", and then some snacks in between.

"it'll essentially be this:
breakfast: grapenuts, oatmeal, with unsweetened soy milk.
lunch: PB&J (natural PB... it has no partially hydrogenated oils) on a wheat bread, or a turkey sandwich, or something similar.
dinner: anything sensible.
"

That basically be what the majority would consider a "diet", but, sorry to be blunt, it's no where near proper - especially if you want to lose weight, sorry, fat (I hate the "lose weight" term)

Things that I can spot right away:
- 3 meals only
- Little to no protein within your diet
- Jelly for lunch?
Jelly is a compounded mixture of fruits and sugar (tastes awesome, but keep away if you wanna trim the fat). Any kind of carbohydrate will transform into glucose within your system regardless. The KIND of carbohydrate pre-determines the rate of which it is absorbed and stored. Sugar is a very basic form of glucose, therefore it is considered a "Simple Carbohydrate". This pretty much deals with the spike of your insulin, a hormone created by your pancreas that is responsible for carb/fat absorption and usage. The spiking of your insulin is generated by the "GI" (Glycemic Index) level of your foods - note all foods of GI levels. Research this stuff on your own. There's quite a bit of stuff, and I think you would benefit better from reading the articles yourself.

Back to "Dieting", . This might seem like a lot of work, but no one said dieting & exercise was going to be easy. There's 2 forms of dieting & exercise, the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way would probably be the "eat salads all day, run for 2 hours, do 1000 crunches a day" mentality. The right way would be to understand the concepts, know how your (own) body works/responses, sticks to a well thought out dieting plan and training regime. Which one sounds more effective?

This is a diet I used when I trimming fat, however I will modify it to seem more "normal" (Cutting out the protein shakes & adding more carbs, etc..)

Breakfast: First meal of the day. Very important. As children, we were told that it "breaks the fast" we endure during the night.. that's about it. The reason why breakfast is important is because, yes it breaks the fast, but it kicks starts your metabolism (which quintessential for fat loss), and it brings our body out of a catabolic state (the state of breaking down, the direct opposite to "anabolic") - which is VITAL for anyone wanting to build muscle or, a.k.a., "tone".

4 Egg Whites (Add salt if desired, but it is recommended you eat it plain)
2 Whole Eggs
1/2 Cup - 1 Cup of Oatmeal (Cooked with water, and flavoured with Cinnamon)

Drink either water or milk (Skim or 1%).

You got a nice protein boost, some good fats, and a great slow digesting carb for long lasting energy.

Meal 2: Have this 2-3 hours after breakfast.
A Fruit (An apple, an orange, grapefruit, etc.. try to keep it low sugar)
A can of tuna (Eat it right out of the can if you can)
- Mixed with low fat mayo if desired
A green - Broccoli/Spinach is recommended

Meal 2: Option 2
A Fruit (Same as above)
A can of tuna mixed with low fat/non-fat cottage cheese (Flavoured with mustard: This tastes pretty good actually)
A green - Broccoli/Spinach is recommended

Lunch: 2-3 hours after meal 2
Turkey Sandwich on Wheat Bread
Some low fat/non-fat Yogurt

Meal 4:
Peanut Butter Sandwich on 1 slice of wheat bread (Natural or low-fat PB)
Milk (Skim or 1%)


Dinner
6-8oz. of Fish or Chicken
Mixed Greens or any kind of green

Before Bed: This is important, because it gives your body fuel for the 8 hour long catabolic state that you will be in. It will consume the food as oppose to the hard earned muscles you worked so hard for.

8oz. of Milk and/or Low/Non- Fat Cottage Cheese

Why diary?! Because, diary contains this special protein called "Casein" which absorbs slower into your system, perfect for that 8 hour resting period.

This is JUST a sample. You may tweak it which ever way you want. This is if you want to do it natural (like, REALLY naturally) without the aid/support of supplements whatsoever. Know how many calories you should consume a day, and tweak this diet to fit.
By the way, its basically:
Your Body Weight x 12, then subtract 200-500, give or take (play with this).

Training:
Time for the training! Cardio is almost always a part of a fat-loss plan. When is the best time to do cardio? In the morning, or right after a weight lifting session. Why? Because, at those two parts of the day, your glycogen levels (fat storage cells basically) are at the lowest, and it is optimal to do cardio. If you do choose to do it in the morning, have a cup of black coffee before you run for that extra energy boost (caffeine explained later). As for weight lifting, fine a good weight lifting program to suit your needs, I recommend Bodybuilding.com - The Future Of Bodybuilding! Huge Bodybuilding Site..

Caffeine.. and Green Tea?!
Caffeine plays a neat little role in fat loss. It raises your heart rate, especially when you train, which boosts your metabolism, which raises your core body temperature, which burns fat, savvy? . For the coffee lovers, this is a real treat. BUT! Consume CONTROLLED portions, and have it BLACK (don't need the extra calories from cream, milk, and sugar now do we).

Green Tea is another great fat loss aid. It too raises your metabolism, and it also helps lower stress levels (which is great for weight loss).

Here's something interesting. Did you know that Green Tea and Caffeine are both key ingredients in weight loss pills/fat burners? Hydroxycut, Lipo 6, whatever, all contain these 2 ingredient. Granted they'll have more stuff injected into them, but if you're not planning to compete in a body building contest, I say to you. "Why spend $60 on Hydroxycut when you can get similar benefits from drinking green tea and coffee?".

That's my million dollar tip for you, and anyone else on this board

P.S. In additon to the minimal summarized information I gave you, please, PLEASE do research if you want optimal results within the shortest period of time. Knowing what you're doing will keep your motivated, and the results will come very shortly.

I'm really liking posting health info here . I really hope more people get involved in this thing, for I know everyone can benefit from it!

P.P.S. - Not bad for being only 18 years old, dontcha' think?

[Jeff]

I plan on eating non-sweetened cereal, probably Grape Nuts, since it's high in fiber. I really get hungry when I eat breakfast (probably because by eating it triggers metabolism) so I plan to bring some fruit or veggies of some sort. Staying away from PB&J's is tough for me, but I think I can do it.

I'm going to be switching to green tea from coffee, at least for awhile, since I can't really live with black coffee, whereas green tea I can handle straight.

Have you heard about vitamin B12 increasing metabolism? I wonder if that's true and/or safe.

I will be posting Monday morning weigh in's (though I doubt tomorrow will be much different, since I am just starting) along with daily exercise and diet.

We'll see where we can take it, and whoever jumps in at any time, the more the merrier!

EDIT After reading the post above, I can do straight tuna (actually I quite like it) and can do the peanut butter sans jelly sandwich. Maybe that's what I'll do to spread things apart.

[Rusty_cooley702]

well idont know how much i weigh but i thnk im pretty fat but not like morbidly obese or anything.

I only eat 1 meal a day

is that a good way to lose weight???

[tehk]

To Jeff:
Sounds like your beginning to start on the right path. By the way, Peanut Butter is very good for you. Although the calories are high, it provides a good source of protein and good fats. You can have it everyday! Just a controlled amount.

Originally Posted by Rusty_cooley702

well idont know how much i weigh but i thnk im pretty fat but not like morbidly obese or anything.

I only eat 1 meal a day

is that a good way to lose weight???

HELL NO! Read my above post. Lose weight in the sense that you're starving yourself, and that your body is eating itself (muscle and all!), and that you're dying at a faster pace? Then yea, eating 1 meal a day will make you lose weight.