Questions from a 319 pounder.

[Mongriel]

Hi,

Let me give you some background before I get into my questions. About 5 years ago, at 23 years old and in the army, I weighed about 210 pounds and was probaly in the best shape of my life. I could bench 315 pounds for a couple of reps and could run a 10k race in just over 43 mins.

Currently I weigh in at 319. One of my biggest faults for gaining this weight was my love for fast food. A couple of weeks ago I put my foot down and went cold turkey with fast food. Before when I did this I lacked motivation but now I have corrected this.

My friend, who is roughly the same boat, weight wise, and I decided to make a bet. Last week we bet that we would lose 50 pounds (each) by Christmas of this year. If one person cannot drop 50 pounds by x-mas then they will give the other $1000. If both of us cannot lose the weight then each of us will give $1000 to a charity. If both of us lost 50 pounds or more, and kept it off till x-mas then we will both push this bet into next year.

I am currently using FitDay.com to keep a check on my calories consumed and burned and to keep a record on what I eat. On average for last week, I ate about 2300-2500 calories a day. I eat 5-6 meals a day. According to the formulas used by FitDay, I burn about 4500-4800 calories a day. Approximatley 4400 from metabolism/day to day activites and a few hundred more from working out ( I weightlift 4 times a week and am trying to get back into doing some cardio). Ofcourse, with all such calculations, there is always room for error but the results should be correct enough to give an idea.

Reading through these forums and others, I notice alot of people stating that losing more than 2 pounds a week, is unhealthy. But usually the people who talk about it are citing this for people who may be 30 pounds (for example) over weight. Since I am obese and burn so many calories through normally daily actvities, I find I cannot keep myself to only cutting 1000 calories a day. I am eating healthy now and find myself full at the 2500 calorie mark.

Should I be worried about cutting 2k+ calories a day? Does anyone have any advice towards this subject and towards my overall goals?

[Trainer Lynn]

I got a little confused there at the end. But let me start by saying that I think you have a wonderful deal going on with your friend. It's great to have a motivating factor- other than food

Basically if you are overweight by more than 30 pounds than you can safely lose 2+ pounds of fat per week. It's the people who have like 10 pounds to get rid of that cannot lose 2 pounds of fat per week.

So the more you have to lose- the more you can lose per week and still be safe. Hope that makes sense.

My only recommendation is to keep going. I don't know your exact routine or menu, but eating 5-6 meals a day, drinking lots of water, strength training and cardio are key. Good luck! I hope you both succeed.

[Mongriel]

Thanks for the reply Trainer Lynn. Its good to know that I don't have to force feed myself those extra calories.

My training routine consists of 4 workouts a week. I do upper body on Monday and Thursday and lower body on Tuesday and Friday. Each workout consists of 5 exercises with 3 sets a piece and I usually go for 12-15 reps a set. I am still trying to add in a good cardio routine for myself.

A daily menu consist of:
BreaKfast - 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites, a banana and about 20 almonds
Snack - Meal replacement shake made with water or skim milk
Lunch - Can of tuna with raw broccoli and raw green peppers
Snack 2 - A couple of stalks of celery with half of a meal replacement shake
Supper - A chicken breast with a side of raw vegtables
Snack 3 - Protein shake (usually post workout)

This menu usually stay the same with a few changes over the week.

I am considering throwing in a 15 - 20 min calisthenics in the morning on my off days but I am kinda worried about over training.

Can anyone see any flaws with this plan? And have any pointer to give?

Thanks

[teresand77]

I would add some carbs in there somewhere. You don't really have any. Vegetables are carbs but you need some whole grains for energy. Maybe for lunch you can add 1/2 c. of brown rice. What I do when I'm trying to lean out is cut carbs after my 4th meal. I would think you wouldn't have a lot of energy eating the way you're eating?

I would also lower the reps a bit to 8-12 on each set.

Otherwise I think your plan is great! I'm glad you cut out the fast food but don't forget to give yourself a break once in awhile and cheat a little

~teresa

[Trainer Lynn]

I agree with Teresand77. More complex carbs: rice, sweet potato, etc. You may need to increase the calories too. I am not sure that you are getting enough calories for your size/weight/activity level. But I'll leave that for you to figure out.

Also, I would lower your strength training program to 8-10 reps. I would throw in doing some cardio on 2 of the 3 non-strength training days. You need cardio just like strength training. You won't over do it so long as you take a rest day at least once a week, allow your muscles to repair themselves after a strength training session (if you work biceps today, let them relax tomorrow) and so long as you keep your workouts under an hour.