6 weeks to improve myself

[HarryFlatters]

Hi all,

A bit of background - currently 82.5kg and 6' tall (was >100kg a few years ago). I do very little exercise other than 1 round of golf and a walking a few miles at lunchtime a few times per week.

I've got 6 weeks today until I go off on holiday, and I would like your advice on what sort of programme I should be asking for at the gym so that I'm not embarrassed to take off my tee shirt. I'm not necessarily talking about getting "fit" per se, but leaner and toned, if that makes sense..?

Your input is welcome.

Cheers,

H

[HarryFlatters]

I don't drink any booze through the week, and maybe only have a few tins and some wine at the weekends. I don't (and never did) eat junk food, so have already cut out sweets, chocolate, crisps etc.

I normally have a smoothie or some bran flakes and a yogurt for breakfast, lunch is a small flour tortilla with hummus, salad and sandwich meat. Dinner is a salad or veggies with grilled meat, or a fish taco, or a veg frittata so all low carb and lean. I seriously don't think I can eat any less.

Running is a bit of an issue - I have "profoundly flat feet" (verbatim, from the biomechanical specialist I've seen), which causes ankle, shin, hip and back pain. Any non impact cardio is fine. I'm also ok with most forms of lifting, apart from the bench press due to a knackered elbow joint (badly broken when I was 10).

[HarryFlatters]

Cheers all, I'll look to get a programme together that incorporates some HIIT cardio with some weights and see how it goes.

[HarryFlatters]

didelydoo said:

You're not going to get any bigger/more muscly in 6 weeks. You will be able to get less fat though, which will give the illusion of more muscle.

Diet and cardio would be the way top go IMO, maybe a bit of weight training if it's something you already do, if not I'd not bother.

That's pretty much exactly what I'm wanting to do. I'm not really wanting to get big, so the weights in my programme are really there to break the monotony of the cardio, which I tend to find really, really boring.

LordGrover said:

It doesn't suit everyone, but try eating 'more'.
By that I mean reduce or eliminate dairy, meat & fish but increase fresh fruit and veg, a lot. Calorie restriction is much easier if you take out the calorie dense foods like meat and fish, but you have to eat way more vegetables to get the nutrients necessary. I've found going mostly veggie with eggs a couple of days and steak or liver once a week, but really piling on the greens very 'healthful', in terms of weight, body composition and exercise.
Maybe not optimal for a full-on bodybuilder/power lifter/strongman but it's working well for me.

I've actually been considering being meat/fish free 3 or 4 days per week anyway, so this is pretty much exactly what I'm after.

Do you have any recipes for lunch, other than a whopping big green salad? Would something like brown rice/lentils and lots of greens be ok? I have access to a fridge and a microwave (and a canteen that even fks up chips, so that's a no go )

The wife bought me Huge Furry Whippingtool's veg book, so I'll have a nosey through that and take out all the oils and fats and try some out

[HarryFlatters]

Cheers LordGrover, appreciate your help

battered said:

It's the summer, get on a bike. How can cardio be boring when you are exploring?

I live in Scotland, summer is no guarantee of good weather

Edited by HarryFlatters on Wednesday 29th June 09:22

[HarryFlatters]

Oscarmac said:

Today I am having egg fried rice made with spiralized sweet potato pulsed in the food processor to resemble rice.

I've been doing similar, but with cauliflower. It comes out more like couscous, but is pretty good.

[HarryFlatters]

RJB_666 said:

3200 calories per day

That seems an awful lot. My BMR is 1895, so even with some additional exercise I doubt I'd need anything like 3200. Currently, if I ate more than 1500 calories per day, I'd be surprised.

[HarryFlatters]

battered said:

6ft tall, 80-odd kg and you think you can stay alive on 1500 cals/day? Not a prayer, you'd be losing weight like a stone. 3 months of that and you's look like Steve McQueen did after his spell on half rations in Papillon.

I'll start tracking things on My Fitness Pal again, but certainly through the week I'm not eating anything like the 1890-odd calories that I'm supposed to need to maintain my weight. I might/must be cheating more at the weekends than I think I am.

[HarryFlatters]

JoeMarano said:

I know I bang on about it all the time but insanity really works.

I don't think that going from being pretty much sedentary, to doing an insanity work out is a very sensible idea. It also doesn't sound very joint friendly, and I don't have enough room in my house to do it.

Other than that, it's bob on

[HarryFlatters]

Joe, I'll have a proper look into it at lunchtime and have a think about it

[HarryFlatters]

JoeMarano said:

I find people that quit insanity always just find a reason to the common one being that they do three days of it, notice they haven't lost the two stone they wanted and then just give up.

It doesn't work like that it's a two month routine for a reason. You have to build up slowly. By the second month you will watch the weight fall off!

It's not so much the weight that's the benefit of it. Your posture will have changed helping you appear slimmer and your muscles will have a much better and defined shape to them which again aids with appearing slimmer.

I never weighed myself or did a before and after when I was doing it. But I was one of those typical early 30's with a half decent physique but a bit of side and belly fat and from insanity I probably appeared better than I did when I was about 25!

I spent most of my 20's weighing 16 stone, and have lost 3 of that in the last 3 years. However, I've been between 13 stone and 13 stone 5lbs for about a year which I hope goes some way to showing that I'm not one for quitting.

Once again, I'm not really looking to lose weight, I'm wanting to redistribute what weight is around my middle to my shoulders, chest, arms and legs. Maybe insanity is one way of doing this, I've not really looked tbh.

[HarryFlatters]

Kiwi LS2 said:

Good on you OP for keeping it off for three years, that is really awesome - takes some self-discipline when you've been overweight for a large (pardon the pun!) part of your life.

Cheers Kiwi

I decided a few years ago to lose weight, but not through a "diet". I made a step change in my attitude to food, made it a lifestyle change, because I've always thought of "diets" as temporary things. As such there's an end to that process where you'd end up slipping back into old habits and end up piling the weight back on.

It's very true what a lot of folk have said - you get thin in the kitchen and fit in the gym. I've done the first part ok, now onto the second

Cheers again for all your advice

[HarryFlatters]

Right, a wee update.

The gym's fancy scales worked out that I'm 82.7kg and 22%ish body fat. I've not set a particular goal, but if I could get he body fat %age down to maybe 18 before I go on holiday, I'll be chuffed.

Got myself a programme after talking to one of the trainers. I'm doing some HIIT stuff on the treadmill, which is surprisingly painless considering my feet and that I haven't even ran for a bus in the last 8 years.

Weight wise, I'm doing a mix of lat pull downs, chest press, shoulder press, leg extensions and leg curls on embarrassingly low weights. I really don't have any upper body strength at all.

I'm going to ask the trainer to add in some exercises to work my core, as I think a lot of the problems with my back come from having no abdominal strength, and I think that I'll get some rowing added in to boost the cardio.

All in all, I'm really rather enjoying it. My elbows hurt though, which I hope will settle after I've built up my triceps a little.

TTFN

[HarryFlatters]

Halb said:

V8mate said:

Three, hour-long sessions each week with a PT and cut out all booze, sweets, chocolate, biscuits and cakes for the duration.

best answer

Can't afford a PT, don't eat any sweets, chocolate, biscuits or cakes. Don't drink any booze through the week and only have a few at the weekend.

[HarryFlatters]

Halb said:

Roughly, what is your diet? How does it break down into fats, carbs and protein?

Breakfast: Mixed fruit smoothie, comprising mix of pineapple, melon, nectarines, mango etc... whatever's on offer in the supermarket. This is mixed with Alpro coconut milk and a tablespoon of porridge oats. I've been thinking about switching up the oats for walnuts to increase the protein. I have this every weekday morning.

Lunch: 1 small wholemeal flour tortilla, 1 tablespoon of hummus, handful of salad leaves and a few slices of lean sandwich meat like chicken or turkey. I have this every weekday lunch.

Dinner: Last night I had a prawn curry with puy lentils, night before was some plaice with a ragu of courgette, tomato, peas, broad beans and spinich. Tonight I'm going to have a pork taco. Friday, I'm planning a nice veggy Spanish omelette. Everything I eat is home made.

No snacks.

Lots of water, few cups of black coffee, no sugar. Couple of tins of diet coke.

No booze.

That's basically how I eat all week, every week, for the last three years.

I'm cheating a bit at the weekends, I might have a few beers, a glass of wine and maybe some pasta or even chips but I'm certainly not having 17 portions of butter chicken and a bottle of baileys

[HarryFlatters]

Halb said:

You want a good shape, that is one of the objectives of losing fat?

That's exactly my objective. My weight, and fat, is very much centred around my middle. I'm not desperate to lose another stone in weight, but I'd like to change my body fat %age so that I appear more athletic.

TBH, even having my belly not stick out as far as my tits would be great

I'll look into fasting, but I'm not certain that it's for me. I'm prone to migraines which are triggered by low blood sugar.

I'll add in some rowing and other core exercises as suggested above, and batter on with it

Cheers all

[HarryFlatters]

As in dumbbell rows?

[HarryFlatters]

Sound Halb, I've got dumbbells in the house so I can do rows with them outwith the gym to make sure that I'm balanced

[HarryFlatters]

V8mate said:

How much do they weigh? Most 'home gym' weights are so light as to be pointless.

Can't remember tbh. However, seeing as my shoulder and chest press is pathetic, I'd imagine that even at 18 or 20kg (not including dust), it'll be enough at the moment.

[HarryFlatters]

battered said:

Look at the old videos showing people like Frank Bruno weight training. Hundreds of reps, light weights. Because he was interested in fitness and speed rather than bulk.

Tiger Woods did much the same thing, for the same reasons.