Weight Loss Attempt #2

V

veenie

New member
Hi all,

I've been a member here for a while now. The last time I lost weight was in 2007. Went from 220lbs to about 160lbs at the end of the year. Was very happy with my success. (20 years old at the time, 5'8 in height)

This is the thing, I took time off school to work and the weight slowly came back on over the course of the last few years. I'm now at 190lbs. I don't have anyone to blame but myself because of the hectic lifestyle and working almost 44 hours a week, the pounds crept back on. I've gone back to school and want to get rid of 20lbs or so because I have the time to workout and properly plan my meals and such.

During my weight loss process before, I found that at 170lbs I really liked the way I looked and was feeling good about myself as well. As I went down to 160lbs, I was very weak and pretty skinny (I'm a fairly large build guy, broad shoulders etc).

I'm basically eating about 1600-1700 calories a day and exercise 3 times a week (between school and part-time work and extra curricular activities, it's hard to keep it to the 5 days a week I was once doing in 2007.) I'm now 22, and still 5'8 for reference.

Just wanted to reach out to you guys to see if what I'm doing is well enough to get rid of the 20lbs and reach my ideal weight of 170lbs.
 
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I'm the same height, and the same size. I'm 3 years older.

I work out 3 days a week (strength training), 3 days of 30 mins of cardio, and 1 day of complete rest.

I'm eating around 1800-2000 calories.

My weight loss is coming slow, but my muscles are growing, and my fat has definitely be reduced. Your plan sounds spot on to me, cardio is good but the strength training is more important, and more important than that is your diet, which seems to be good. (assuming you're getting the right macros)

I think you're going to do just fine with that plan, and with that amount of exercise.

I estimate it will take me about 3 months to get down to 170. I'm going to take before and after pics, you should do the same so we can compare, as were very identical in build/height/weight from the sounds of things.
 
Does your workout involve lifting heavy things? :D

It sounds like when you hit 160 you started to feel 'skinny fat'. That is, your weight was down, but you didn't have a lot of muscle. Weight training helps you keep the muscle. See the Conceptual Side of Weight Training sticky in the Weight Loss through Exercise section for more details.

Also, your calories may be a little low. Rule of thumb is 10-12 calories per pound of bodyfat. So 1900 to 2280 would be the starting point, and adjust down if you don't see results.

You also want to make sure you're getting enough protein - check out the stickies here on the boards and there's a lot of good information :D
 
Thanks for the response guys.

Ronbell, most definitely i'm going to try posting up some pics of a before shot soon.

Jeanette, just recently started to take the initiative to go back to my ideal weight. I'm working out 3 times a week, doing some lifting and cardio as well.
 
Then my suggestion would be to check your protein intake to make sure you're getting enough. You may want to up calories a little as well, although obviously if you start gaining weight you're eating too much ;)
 
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