I've got a holiday book in may and would really like to try shed some pounds for it, I've tried in the past, but have a date set in mind which I figured would help with motivation. I've got a heavy bag and a cross trainer and some dumb bells and bar bell, just wondered about a work out routine I could use for two months that would give me a good chance of losing some weight, maybe add some definition if possible. Any help would really be appreciated.
Well i'm working on that too, trying to eat less, and more healthy, but get different opinions everywhere I turn, don't eat too much fruit, only eat fruit, no carbs etc. It's hard to know what to believe.
Just eat healthy. Don't fall into the trap of following some stupid restrictive diet that denies you certain macro nutrients or certain food types, everything in moderation will reduce cravings and binge eating. Eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3 main meals to keep your metabolism high and to prevent yourself from being hungry for any long periods. Gradually reduce your calorie intake, don't just suddenly eat a whole lot less as your body will need time to adapt to the drop in calories. Ensure you eat plenty of fruit or veg and drink loose green tea to boost your metabolism, drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep.
Think it through and simplify it in your mind. Food has weight. If you eat a pound of food, you gain a pound. A pound of organic low-fat Paul Newman vitamin-fortified celery or whatever weighs the same as a pound of ice cream. Some of it gets stored in your body and (hopefully) burned as energy, the rest you'll **** out. Weight gain happens when you eat more food than your body needs. How much food your body needs depends on a few factors (fitday.com has a calculator to help you with this). Say you need 3000 calories per day to stay the same weight. If you eat 4000 calories per day for a week, you built a surplus of 7000 calories. Conventional wisdom is that a pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So you just gained 2lb in a week because you ate too much. Reverse it. Say you ate 2000 calories every day. You lost 2lb in a week because you didn't eat enough to maintain your weight. Now you have to factor in your activity. Say you burn 250 calories per day working out: There's another 1750 calories less than your weekly need. You lost an additional half a pound that week. Weight loss comes down to simple math. You just need to stick with it and try to select healthy food. It won't make you lose weight any faster, but you'll feel and perform better. Do me a favor. Punch anyone who tells you to avoid fruit or carbs. Punch them right in the face.
:good Couldn't agree more. Everybody wants to look good but there is a difference between looking fit and healthy and looking malnourished.
Cheers for the advise guys, would you know bout how to design a good work out regime with the equipment I've mentioned? My mate just does 100 press ups a day and is in pretty good shape, but with my genes its gonna take a lot more than that.
Do something every day that makes you sweat, and keep doing it for about a half hour (if you can keep doing it for much longer than that, you're not working hard enough). Jump on the cross trainer for 10 minutes, or until you break a decent sweat, then do a body weight circuit involving squats, push ups and if you can chin ups. Then finish with a few rounds on the bag. Or start with a few rounds on the bag, then move the barbell around for 20 minutes. Choose 3 or 4 compound movements (bent over row, squat, shoulder press, etc...) don't put the barbell down, just keep moving through the circuit until the time runs out.
My experience with weights is limited so I'll have to learn how to lift properly without doing myself damage. I can go bout 20 mins on the bag without feeling too dead. Just wondering whats the recommended weight loss over two months for myself, being 6'1 and 17 stone.
Probably a good idea. Get yourself a gymboss interval timer, or set a timer on your phone and do rounds or 2 or 3 minutes with 30 seconds to 1 minute rest between rounds. Increase the intensity with short breaks in between instead of just cruising for 20 minutes. Stone is just about the worst way to measure weight. It makes no sense. According to Google, 17 stone is about 108kg. So you're a pretty big dude, which means you might drop a **** load of weight very quickly (or, you might not). I wouldn't worry about the numbers on the scale, you're not trying to make weight for anything, you just want to get in shape and lower your body fat % (from your initial post: "losing some weight, maybe add some definition if possible"). You've got a few options. One option is to go see your doctor, get him to take some measurements (height, weight, waist, BMI, body fat %, etc.), talk to your doctor about want you want to do and get them to monitor your progress. The other easier but less accurate/dedicated/expensive option is just go by looks and feel. Look at yourself in the mirror, take a picture with your shirt off, and be as objective as you can about how you look and how you feel. Do that one a week or once a fortnight and as long as you keep training you'll start to look better and all you need to do is ensure that you feel better as well. If you start to feel like crap (run down, tired, lethargic, having trouble sleeping, etc.) make some adjustments to your training and/or nutrition or have a day off.
Sounds good, I'll probably focus on how I look and feel rather than weights and measurements, I've been told that if you've got a bit of weight on you, you'll prob lose a lot quick then it'll be harder. I just don't wanna give myself unrealistic targets, maybe two months isn't enough time to change drastically. Sucks having skinny friends cos the your the out of shape one, even tho they're not in any kind of shape.
I glad to read your story and tell you one this that you just need to be regular with your daily diet and exercise... I hope you would follow my advice..
