The Work Out/Lose Weight/Diet Thread

[JoeOnePack]

Hey guys,

I just stumbled upon this thread and thought I would throw down a little bit of wisdom here.

I have been struggling with weight my entire life. My family loves to cook and loves to eat. To me eating is comforting.

Unfortunately, there comes a time where you have to put down what you are eating and look at yourself objectively. Is what I am eating really healthy for me? Is my lifestyle beneficial to my health? I realized the answer to this last year was a resounding no.

Since I was a child, I remember my mom always packing me healthy lunches for school and we always ate healthy. It was ME who wasn't ready to lose weight. I would always eat my friends snacks at school. You have to WANT to lose weight. If you are not motivated to do so, then it will never work. It is all psychological, a mind game.

I am 5'6". I was 240lbs at my highest weight nearly two years ago. I told myself two years ago that I was fed up with being fat. I was so used to it for the longest time, but the more sports I played with my brother (My brother is a toothpick, complete opposite of me.) the more I realized that I was not fit enough and it was very discouraging, especially watching my brother excel at sports.

Last March, on my birthday, I dropped to a record low of 136.5lbs. I lost about 103lbs. I was insanely happy with my results, but boy did I work for them. I actually have some pictures of myself bodybuilding.com. See if I can pull them up.

There is one thing though that I cannot recommend enough. DRINK WATER. I suffer from some loose skin in all surrounding areas. I contribute this mainly because I did not drink enough water. You need water for your skin to maintain it's elasticity. If not, your skin will die, sag and will never rejuvinate back to its original shape. Althought it is harder for some to prevent this like me as I was severely overweight for many years.

I bulked from September until the end of February. I went from 136.5lbs to 156lbs. I gained a little more fat than I should have, but either way the results are there. I started cutting the beginning of this March. I just weighed myself this morning on an empty stomach and am now at 149.5lbs. I am actually looking to get back to my record weight of 136lbs as I still had 5 or 6 lbs to go and I believe I put on about 8-10lbs of muscle.

I'll try and break down approximately what my workouts and eating habits were and are still like.

Day 1 - LEGS and/or Shoulders

Leg Press - 3 sets of 8 (alternate for squats)
Military Press - 3 sets of 8
Weighted Lunges - 3 sets of 10-12 per leg
Barbell Shoulder Lift - 3 sets of 8
Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 8-10
Front & Side Shoulder Raises - 3 sets of 8-10 each position
Calf Raises - 5 sets of 10-15
40 minutes of Cardio

Day 2 - Chest & Triceps

Flat Bench Press - 3 sets of 8 (With barbell or dumbell)(Alternate for dips)
Tricep Pull Downs - 3 sets of 8
Incline Bench Press - 3 sets of 8
Skull Crushers - 3 sets of 8 (Multiple ways to do it)
Decline Bench Press - 3 sets of 8
Another tricep workout (running a blank here)
Cables for chest on 3 vertical levels. 8 reps per level. High, middle, low. 24 reps per set. only breaks between sets. I sually finish with these as its a fantastic burn.
You can substitute any of the bench workouts for weighted/unweighted pushups.
40 Minutes of Cardio

Day 3 - Back & Biceps

Pullups - 3 sets of 8 (weighted or not. depends on you)
Chinups - 3 sets of 8 (same as above)
Hammer Ups - 3 sets of 8 (same as above)
Bent Over Rows - 3 sets of 8
Supination Curls - 3 sets of 8
Sitting Back Row - 3 sets of 8
Barbell Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 8
40 min of cardio

Now I usually alternate these days. Sometimes I will take a day rest, but when I lost my weight last year I only rested on the weekends.

As for food, I will post what I ate, which I thought was very balanced.

Breakfast
1 Whole Egg
2 Egg Whites
1 Piece Whole Wheat Toast (or Oatmeal)
Half a Banana
half Cup of Blueberries or Strawberries

Lunch
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (Fish, extra lean ground beef, turkey etc)
Brocolli
Green Beens
(Can substitute veggies for salad or sweet potato)


Dinner:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (Fish, extra lean ground beef, turkey etc)
Brocolli
Green Beans (sometimes Asparagus, sweet potato. Depends how you feel that day.)

Like most of you, the hardest time of day is at night. For me it's been 10pm-1am.

I try to avoid carbs at night like the plague because when you sleep it is converted to glucose and is stored as fat. There are a few things that I have under my arsenal.

#1 mix 1 cup low sodium chicken broth with 1 cup water. Add salt, pepper and dill to it. I pour it into a cup and drink it like water... MMM MMM good. Also fills you up.

#2 1% cottage cheese either with small handfull of almonds of 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter. Also great to sleep on as the slow proteins will recover your muscles overnight.

#3 any protein low in carbs. Chicken, fish etc. You can also eat low carb veggies if you want like green beans and brocolli if you want, but would be my last option.


If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I wrote this post pretty quickly. I am sure it is not perfect, but will add to it as necessary.

Cheers and may the power be with you!!!

 

[bliz]

Looks good but i think it would be even better without chicken at all,it's not recommended,broccoli is awesome for diets tho!

 

[JoeOnePack]

Looks good but i think it would be even better without chicken at all,it's not recommended,broccoli is awesome for diets tho!

Why is chicken not recommended? :shok: Growth hormone injections are illegal in Canada. The only other way I can see hormones being used is through the feed. If the chickens have it, then so do the cows and the pigs.

I guess you should stop eating meat altogether. :thumb: You should be ok. :biggrin:

 

[bliz]

chicken is the meat with most oestrogen inside and it is the hormon,if you are a male,that will make you fat,and have a high pitch voice too,generally works together...

Broccoli contains a lot of testosterone tho and it's very good,that's why at puberty,some ppl can eat a lot and stay extremely slim. I was a bit fat a few years ago and when my mother understood that,well,it worked.Try to eat organic,the E471 and E621 (unami) are poison and are bad for diet,you can eat nicely and stay slim,also,reduce milk,americans!!! Milk is good but reduce it when you are an adult,contains a lot of oestrogen.

And if you don't believe me,blood analysis,search your hormones.

 

[JoeOnePack]

chicken is the meat with most oestrogen inside and it is the hormon,if you are a male,that will make you fat,and have a high pitch voice too,generally works together...

Broccoli contains a lot of testosterone tho and it's very good,that's why at puberty,some ppl can eat a lot and stay extremely slim. I was a bit fat a few years ago and when my mother understood that,well,it worked.Try to eat organic,the E471 and E621 (unami) are poison and are bad for diet,you can eat nicely and stay slim,also,reduce milk,americans!!! Milk is good but reduce it when you are an adult,contains a lot of oestrogen.

And if you don't believe me,blood analysis,search your hormones.

I really don't think it is as simple as you are making it out to be. This may be correlative, but not causative. There are not alot of studies that will back up your hypothesis.

All I am saying is that most of the hormones you are referring to are artificially added, which in most cases do not exist and are not practiced anymore, especially in Canada. Canada does not inject growth hormones in their meat products.

 

[enaberif]

chicken is the meat with most oestrogen inside and it is the hormon,if you are a male,that will make you fat,and have a high pitch voice too,generally works together...

Broccoli contains a lot of testosterone tho and it's very good,that's why at puberty,some ppl can eat a lot and stay extremely slim. I was a bit fat a few years ago and when my mother understood that,well,it worked.Try to eat organic,the E471 and E621 (unami) are poison and are bad for diet,you can eat nicely and stay slim,also,reduce milk,americans!!! Milk is good but reduce it when you are an adult,contains a lot of oestrogen.

And if you don't believe me,blood analysis,search your hormones.

No offense but you sound like one of those preaching type people about how organic is so much better and that soy is better.

There has never been any proof that says drinking milk is bad for nor that chicken is going to give you a high pitched voice :dots:

 

[bliz]

I'm talking about hormons that are initially in the products,and also,food additives...There are thousand books about that,and my mother did study that for 4 years.It's true and if you don't eat much and are fat,people,there is something wrong right?You can change your metabolism.

Organic is better because of additives and how they are fed,but it's the same,not recommended Enaberif,do some research^^

Give a try before judging and you will see :biggrin:

and why a lot of really fat ppl have a really high pitched voice? It's pretty common nope? How Strange!!!

 

[Arinoth]

They have actually found that large consumption of soy in one's diet is actually bad for you, can increase your chances of certain cancers and diseases as well. Not to mention it can cause a lot of damage to an infant who consumes what would be considered safe amount for adults as well.

 

[JoeOnePack]

They have actually found that large consumption of soy in one's diet is actually bad for you, can increase your chances of certain cancers and diseases as well. Not to mention it can cause a lot of damage to an infant who consumes what would be considered safe amount for adults as well.

That is because almost 100% of Soy is Genetically Modified. Even in Canada. I try not to touch Soy with a 10 foot poll. It is in almost every processed food you eat. It's also even in your bread, the oil used with peanuts etc.

Watch out for Soy/Canola Oil in your food. Check the labels. Avoid it like the plague.

 

[Perineum]

I am 5'6". I was 240lbs at my highest weight nearly two years ago. I told myself two years ago that I was fed up with being fat.

I'm 5'6 as well, but sit in around 220 to 230lbs.... I'm guessing I'm at around 20% BF at the moment, so I'm not very happy. Typically I sit around the same weight but at 13 to 15%

There is one thing though that I cannot recommend enough. DRINK WATER. I suffer from some loose skin in all surrounding areas. I contribute this mainly because I did not drink enough water. You need water for your skin to maintain it's elasticity. If not, your skin will die, sag and will never rejuvinate back to its original shape. Althought it is harder for some to prevent this like me as I was severely overweight for many years.

I think water is very important, but I think the damage to the collagen happens as people get fat. I don't think the skin can take a bad diet and stretch like that then make it back to normal without marks.

I try to avoid carbs at night like the plague because when you sleep it is converted to glucose and is stored as fat.

Well all carbs you eat is broken down into glucose. The amount and glycemic index plays a larger part but proper timing of carbs is necessary too.

High glycemic carbs get you twice, once because the fuel isn't being used and gets converted into bodyfat, and again because the high amount of glucose in the blood causes an overreaction of insulin which then also converts to a triglyceride and is stored as bodyfat.

That is because almost 100% of Soy is Genetically Modified. Even in Canada. I try not to touch Soy with a 10 foot poll. It is in almost every processed food you eat. It's also even in your bread, the oil used with peanuts etc.

GMOs aren't the reason actually, there are phytoestrogens in soy that are close enough to our natural estrogen that it'll either increase the estrogen in men (or menopausal women) or work as an estrogen blocker in women (due to the phytoestrogen affecting the receptor site and not allowing the natural estrogen to impart it's effect.)

Anyway, excellent results and good work!