Lost and discouraged!!!

[jburdijr]

Over the last few days I have been reviewing almost of the forums, and I have to say there is a lot of great points/plans/advice in them. I have truly enjoyed reading through them.

I do have to say that Adams diet plan (or the autoregulation plan) is the main reason I have registered to this site. It was such an inspiration.

I am a 32yr male, trying desperately to loose weight/gain muscle. Currently, I am at 200lbs and at 6’0. I do not know my bf % , but I do know that I can definitely pinch more then an inch lol. I have worked out on and off for about 3 years, most of the time at 6 month intervals. I get bored so quickly with not seeing any real results. I truly believe that one of my major obstacles is eating. When I was 18 I weighed about 215lbs and I went on a crash diet and weighed 155 6 – 8 months later. I did it the worst way possible, I basically starved myself. Anyway, now that I have gotten older, I have found that I am having a harder time loosing weight. My eating habits are still terrible. I have trained myself to basically eat one meal a day and then of course, I snack mainly at night.

I worked out for 15 weeks straight beginning January of this year (4 days a week, both using elliptical for 30 minutes in the morning and weight training for 30 minutes in the evening) and did not loose any weight or change my waist size. 2 years ago I weighed around 175 with a 31 inch waist and felt great, now I am back to 200lbs with a 34-36in. I have tried many different diets (ie, atkins ,etc) and they help me loose weight, but I have no energy to work out (I also don’t have a gallbladder and was told by my doctor that is one reason I have lost energy using the atkins plan).

I guess what I am asking is for any advice/help. I truly want to stick to a regime, that works. I read someone’s post and I had to laugh, it was basically me (forgive me for not remembering who it was, as I can’t find it now). The individual basically stated, that if they don’t see results fairly quickly, they quit. That is definitely me.

I don’t go to a gym, but I do have a Soloflex. Elliptcal, free weights at home.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Johnka]

Welcome to the forums. The bad news is that there isn't a quick fix for you, and you're going to have to make some lifestyle changes to see results. The good news is that you've already made some commitment to post here, and you've come to the right place.

In terms of nutrition, Adam's diet sounds perfect for you. One big red flag that I saw in your post: you trained yourself to eat only one meal a day. That is one of the worst things you can do, because if you wait until you're starving, you will overeat, and all of those extra calories are shuttled straight to the adipose tissue. The best thing is to eat numerous small meals per day, including breakfast first thing in the morning, since that is when your body needs nutrients the most and is most capable of dealing with them. Something small, like an egg white omelet or a small bowl of non-sugary oatmeal will stoke your metabolism, provide satiety, and prevent you from overeating later.

You'll also need to stick to a good workout regimine. The ideal situation would be a combo of weights and cardio, but I'll leave the advice in this area up to one of the experts.

Anyway, keep reading information on these forums, and good luck with your goals!

[jburdijr]

Thank you! And, I will definitely keep reading. I also just found your website! Very good information there as well. Another question that I have and I keep getting mixed signals on is I have been using the ellipitcal in the morning on an empty stomach (well, other then coffee) and doing a weight training program in the afternoon. Is this correct, or should I do elliptical right before the weights, or vice versa?

[Johnka]

Originally posted by jburdijr:
Thank you! And, I will definitely keep reading. I also just found your website! Very good information there as well. Another question that I have and I keep getting mixed signals on is I have been using the ellipitcal in the morning on an empty stomach (well, other then coffee) and doing a weight training program in the afternoon. Is this correct, or should I do elliptical right before the weights, or vice versa?

Either way, as long as you're doing the exercise [img]smile.gif[/img] I have found that breaking the workout into 2 parts of the day can be beneficial in terms of intensity (easier to get a more intense workout for each if their separated by a few hours). It just depends on your schedule and whether or not you can make time for 2 workouts.