Well here is a convo I might shed some light in. Just last year I had been set ready to become a personal trainer ( not the weekend course either) but Im following my dreams instead.

Kustomized, ABQ is very much correct in his asmuption of your lose being water weight and you actually justfied his thoughts for him. Cutting out your fast food inatke is a great way to start and keep at it! Water weight refers to the amount of water your body will store or retain for daily use. You say you are drinking mostly water and in decent amount, so your body is not storing it but rather using what you are giving it on a daily basis and therefore getting rid of excess. That is a very crucial part in a healthy lifestyle.

Now majik my man you are on the right track but I think you are swaying in the wind. First of good on you to find Mens Health as that is an amazing magazine to get information from!
Tibby chick is very correct in saying that your meals at restaurants are hitting you hard. Restaurants such as steakhouses and McDonalds have different serving sizes which is the biggest factor in proper eating. What McDonalds does to gain there healthy eating ads is actually not make decent food but rather lower the intake by serving size. Any restaurant out there will serve you anywere from 1-3x your normal serving size in just your "meal" not including your appetizer and dessert.

Now you say your are trying to lose weight not so much bulk up. Very simple process but at the same time you have to answer some questions for me to help me get a better understanding of what you want and are capable of. First off your number of meals/day is crucial to balancing your diet. This is also one of the hardest especially if you get them great 15minute brakes everyone loves to work through. What I need to know is just how many times you eat during a regular day and roughly what time of day also. Next having some goals is a good way to get focused. So not too indepth what are your main goals? Losing weight, looking good, anything you can think of. Lastly what are you doing in the gym? People are mentioning too stay away from heavy weights or do more cardio. This also goes back to your goals. There is no need to stay away from heavy weights if you plan your weight lose to be minimal but at the same time more reps are need if you plan to maximize your weight lose.

Just throwing some well learned knowledge out there for you guys. Majik or anyone else out there who is reading this and would like so help please feel free to pm me or just ask in the thread. Im no doctor Phil but a health freak indeed.

 

Actually, I was really posting about #5 and #7. I really wanted to reenforce them.

It wasn't until recently that I realized that those two were really holding me back. See, I was fat ALL my life. It wasn't until recently that I learned how to get rid of the extra weight. Even in the army I've been on the overweight program. No matter what I tried, I couldn't loose weight. It turned out that I was staying up late and munching before bed and also not drinking water.

Loosing weight is more then just calories out > calories in. Your body actually preserves calories if you don't drink water and sleep well.

Also, see my first post on the atkins diet for more info on #1.

This is a very important topic to me. I had never heard of those two statistics in #3 and #4 and had hoped someone could clear them up. The way it reads is that you're resting or your moving and the numbers they gave don't jive.

I'm genetically predispositioned to be overweight and I will battle it for my life. My dad found that for him it works to eat one good meal a day and nothing else. That dosn't work for me. Everyone's got to come up with a good way to manage their own weight. Me, when I notice I'm getting a little heavy, I cut out carbs.

 

DTN - we talked. My post was half sarcastic, half the result of a difficult day at work. Didn't mean to come across as attacking you. Sorry bro.

You want my info holeshot? Well, here it is.

Diet routine:
Wake up at 6:15
At work by 8:30. Drink Slimfast at 8:30

Ate a banana around 10:30.
I eat a handful of almonds about every 2 hours, whenever I remember, so sometime around 11 and again around 3pm. They help me drink water and give me something to munch on.

I start my lunch break some time between noon and 1:00. I eat small, today I very little leftovers from the other night (total amount was less than a fist size of rice, chicken, pineapple). Around 3:30 I ate a turkey sandwich (wheat bread, turkey, mustard, slice of cheese).

For dinner tonight I had one piece of chicken (thin, probably 4oz) that was shake 'n bake (under 500 calories) along with some 90sec. Uncle Bens whole grain rice (half a pouch) and half a can of green beans. I drink water with every meal, and keep bottles filled up and on my desk at work. Probably drank 90oz. or more today, which is normal.

my problem is night time... between 7-11pm I try to relax, do work on the laptop, watch TV, check email and forums, do finances online... that's when I get Attention Deficit and want to majorly snack. I need to find something healthier. Tonight my snacking went wild (first time in 2 weeks) - I had a bite sized snickers, 3 twizzlers (single wrapped), a handful of Baked Lays, and 4 Andes chocolate mints. I like to munch!!!

What I have available to me:

[*]weight machine (simple with lat bar, bench press, leg lifts, and preacher bench type rest for elbows)[*]Red XL (oblique stool that twists, not enough resistance for me)[*]pull up bar mounted in garage door frame[*]recumbent bike[*]gazzelle (hate that thing, no resistance)[*]Ab Lounge[*]Push Up Pro[*]two 20lb dumb bells, and two 25 lb. dumb bells.[/list]The stuff I do


[*]pull ups (about 4 or 5 at a time, maybe 5 times a night). Mostly sternum pull ups, but I mix chin ups in also[*]Ab Lounge (I try to do it, usually only once or twice a week 100 slow crunches before I go to bed)[*]push ups every once in a while (twice a week maybe? only one set). I'm afraid of hurting my shoulder, so I minimize push ups for now.[*]Weight Machine (I like to take the lat bar behind the neck with the entire stack of weight. I don't have the #s because I picked it up from a friend who just wanted to get rid of it. Don't have the weight #s. I also like to take the lat bar, pull it down in front of me, and do crunches. I can usually handle 7-10 with the entire stack).[/list]I'm probably like 90% of half-hearted work out people... I like working my arms and abs. I have huge calves and am more than satisfied with my leg strength, plus I have never had good knees or ankles, so I like to stay away from the cardio stuff. If my weight room was bigger, the next thing I'd buy is an Elliptical trainer... i love those things because I can set the resistance high and it doesn't have the pounding on my joints/legs.

I'm 5'8 / 5'9 and have gone from 224 to 217 since 1/1/08. I used to work out at the gym 5-6 days a week, up until 2 years ago when life got hectic. I'd like to get down to 190, but not much lower than that. My family has a history of athleticism. My dad used to work out heavily, but hurt his neck lifting improperly and had to retire from the LA Sheriff's Dept. at the age of 35. He was a track star and running back in high school. My grandfather is in the Occidental College HOF for track and also played running back. I would be satisfied at 190-200 pounds. Minimal exercise will yield good results for me (genetically) I just have to do it. I've already dropped one notch on my belt. Waistline is probably 34-36 inches, closer to 34-35.

I spent 2 years going to Gold's Gym 4-6x / week... didn't lose much weight and don't know why. I'd play racquetball for 2 hours usually 2 or 3 times a week, I'd run on treadmills and ellipticals. I'd work out on the machines for 45 minutes or more straight without soreness the next day. I didn't eat HORRIBLY, but I didn't have a set diet. That's probably why... but doing 100 crunches every night and pull ups randomly throughout the night will help me. My problem is that I want immediate results, and I get discouraged quickly if I don't see them.

I enjoy working my abs, arms, and back. I want that V !! I've got good abs, just gotta get rid of the fat sitting on top of them and the love handles

 

Just keep at it majik... you understand it takes time and have alot of good info to base your diet off of, so just remeber what your end goals is and take pictures each week to watch the subtle progression, but progression none the less.


Holeshot why would beeing a personal trainer interfear with your dreams? If you don't mind me asking. It's an excellent career on the side/ full time. I have recently begain my journy towards being a personal trainer as well as beeing a nutritionist... the same as you said not the weekend courses either.

 

I would appreciate any websites or online tools that you guys come across. Please post 'em here.

 

http://fitday.com/

Try that it should help alot. You should only need the free version, but there is a $20 with a few extra features.

 

Hey guys, majik you sound like you are doing alot of exercise so it makes me think that your diet might need some tweeking just to get you the results. Keep at it though you sound like you are well on the way. I have a lot of new training ideas for you but can't explain them with words so let me find some info for you.

ABQ: Thats awsome what you are doing! I was actually very close to that same path but I'd like to keep it as a backup plan. I'm going to Mobile Dynamics in July and would like to follow that as far as I can. As all of us know it's very much an addiction but I'd like to just stay as focused as I can on it. Working out and living a healthy lifestyle won't change for me though. I've been at it for 3 years now and havn't got bored yet.

Heres a link to the college Im going to attend
http://www.mobiledynamics.com/

 

^^ offtopic.gif just wanted to let you know that I went to Mobile Dynamics (In Richmond Hill, Ontario). Just letting you know that it can be a little misleading for what they teach you there... BARE basics of 12v... and compared with the tuition they charge vs the time spent/amount learned, it's a money grab scheme. They do give you life long career assistance, and help to hook you up with a job. A lot of shops think it's a joke, that the institution would charge so much for learning so little. It's a toe in the door, pretty much, that will get you into the business. From experience, I would go around and talk to local shops to see if you can kind of do an apprenticeship with them and do testing instead of paying all that money up for tuition. Also, MECP isn't even required by law mad.gif There are many other tests that are required after you have enough hours under your belt. Mobile Dynamics doesn't even teach you how to do satellite radio/mobile video/gps systems - which is what is predominantly wanted right now. I'm having a VERY hard time right now in my area, for the main reason that I’m a girl in a male-dominant line of work...

Anyways, back on topic. I also have been watching what I eat, and I try to work out when I can. Problem is that I’m a HUGE procrastinator, and usually need someone to kick me in the butt to get out to the gym. Once I’m there I love it, and when I get back I love the feeling. My main problem is actually getting the mindset to go out and do it lol. When I do go to the gym, my workout almost entirely consists of cardio - elliptical FTW! I go on there for about an hour, then work out my legs, arms, and abs. I have to watch how much I go though because I have incredibly bad knees, and they start giving me some real problems if I go too frequently or push myself too hard. Another problem for me is drinking water... I tend to only drink it if I’m dehydrated/exercising, which I’m trying desperately to change.

Looking forward to picking up some tips in this thread! fing02.gif

 

Hey, I saw that you wanted links posted. Here's a few on my diet of choice, the atkins diet. Some are not articals but will at least inform misinformed people of what the atkins diet really is all about. I've seriously become a beliver in it. It sounded too good to be true at first, but a combination of excersize, drinking lots of water, taking standard multi-vitamins, and the atkins diet, you end up shedding off pounds VERY quickly and you end up overall more healthy.

Here is a good 3rd party overview of the Atkins Diet http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/...diet/atkins.htm

Check this out, and click on the portions of the wheel. http://www.atkins.com/articles/atkin...rior_nutrition

Also, check this out... This Atkins carb counter ALSO give you total average calories and fats for just about every common food you eat. You can click around and find out how many calories are in an average beer or what not. It's not just useful for the "net carbs" which atkins dieters are looking at instead of standard carbohydrates, but it's also got alot of other good info about food. http://www.atkins.com/carb-counter

For those who say you cannot eat healthy on the atkins diet, big salads with zuchinni, sprinkled with a bit of egg, cheese, bacon bits and ranch dressing kick butt and are very low carb too! Of course there's standard meats too, but think about the wide range of Atkins designed products. Not to mention there's a atkins cookbook as well. http://www.atkins.com/recipes

The atkins diet can be alot to take in because it basically takes the food pyramid and flips it the bird. It works, and you can do it healthy too.

 

Just an update:

I've changed my meals.

8am Breakfast: Slim Fast Optima and 1 banana

10am Snack: handful of almonds, a handful or two of bite size carrots

11:30 - take 2 Hydroxycut, 1 fish oil pill, 1 Men's One-a-Day multi vitamin, and 1500mg Glucosamine tablet

12:30 Lunch: Turkey Sandwich (low-cal wheat bread, mustard, no cheese)
Lunch: Fat-Free low sugar chocolate pudding, fat free sugar free jello

2:30-3pm: handful of almonds, little thing of Yoplait Light yogurt

Then I eat dinner... usually chicken, or pork chops with no salt added green beans or uncle ben's rice...
tonight was salad (romaine and mixed greens) with a few Tyson chicken fajita strips (low fat, high protein) and a grilled cheese.

I usually drink AT LEAST 80-90oz. of water or more daily. I don't really drink anything other than water. No cokes, no coffee, sometimes milk or chocolate milk... an occassional glass Ginger Ale. I've given up all beer and tequila.

I've gone from 224.8 to 214.2 - a total of 10 pounds lost since about 1/1/08. Of course my weight fluctuates with drinking so much water, but I haven't been over 218 in a week or two.