Big Will_

But i've decided its finally time to make a big push and try and 'do a coldo'

Went down to the gym for the first time in a few months tonight and was pretty horrified when i jumped on the scales. 129 kilos...

I'd never gone over 20 stone before and whilst everyone tells me i carry it pretty well at 6ft 3, i've started to become very aware of it recently.

When i was 17 i was pushing hard to get my fitness up to a point where i could join the army, well, the parachute regiment to be exact! At that point i weighed 15 stone and in my head, that was my peak.

I'd like to try and get down to 16 stone for summer next year and wondered what would be the best way to go about it?

I did know a little about training 7 years ago but i'm sure that as with most things, techniques and routines have been evolved somewhat since then.

I've reigned my diet in and cut out a lot of crap and i'm focusing my time in the gym currently around a steady 30mins of cross training keeping my heart rate around 165-170 and then 20mins of swimming. Aiming to do this around 3 times a week minimum at the moment.

I know it's not much at the moment and i do intend to pick up the intensity, but my biggest problem is pushing too hard initially and aggravating old injuries (knee, shoulder, neck and back - take your pick!) so i want to build up gradually.

So, in summary, what would be the best approach to drastically cutting body fat, toning existing muscle and potentially building a little more, greatly increasing all round fitness and cardio endurance?

Shorty

iTrader: (1)

Good look Will!

Although, you are right, you carry your weight well!

Big Will_

Had my body fat percentage checked this morning and it was 34.4%.

Going to try and lose a stone in weight and get the body fat figure sub 30% before christmas!

Chip

iTrader: (3)

First thing for you to do is just a severe diet i should think mate, before you worry too much about training.

First couple of stone should fall off you really easily.

If you can do some exercise at the same time though its a good plan.

I lost 1.5 stone in 6 weeks by walking 6 miles a day and cutting my calorie intake down to around 1200 per day or so, Im sure you could easily match that, if not better it, as the heavier you are the easier it is to lose and I was only 15 stone 9 to start with.

Big Will_

Already on with the diet mate.

Down to a bowl of cereal for breakfast, meat and salad sandwich for lunch and meat and veg evening meal.

Drinking around 2 litres of water a day too.

Cut out all the bag of crisps, chocolate bars and bottles of pop!

Feeling more awake and more energetic already!

Chip

iTrader: (3)

I suspect that if you stick to that religiously and of course dont drink any alcohol etc, you will lose a stone a month pretty easily, especially if you can do a decent amount of walking or similar.

Big Will_

I'm sticking to it pretty religiously, still plan to have the odd treat if out with friends at a weekend etc. but throughout the week i'm planning to go at it 100%.

I'm also intending to do 3 gym visits a week at least, so hopefully, the extra effort will counter any weekend treats!

Alps Pacino

The thing is you can eat healthy and still have the odd take away now and again and you will still loose weight, people think you have to live on dust and horrible tasting food to lose weight but you dont.

I;ve started training agai this trip but have been eating sensible for a few months now and the weight is still coming off, i do have 1 take away a week if i feel like it but the rest of the time i eat properly. I got a few of me mothers slimming word books and found some nice stuff in there to eat which is good as they taste lovely and are healthy which is the key imo.

On the training side i'd start slow and build up cause if you go and kill yourself the first time you wont feel like going back. O and tak some pics cause you might not notice the difference but will if you have pics to compare

Good Luck

Mark

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like a plan to me mate

I still had a couple of proper meals out during the 6 weeks when I lost 1.5 stone, but it was only a couple.

Coldo

First off, well done on deciding to change


There are a few ways to lose weight, it all depends on your lifestyle and how hardcore/dedicated you want to be about it.

The way i went was the hardcore route i think, it involved 6-8 small meals spread throughout the day, every 2-3 hours. On top of that was 90-110mins of cardio exercise a day with 2 full body workouts a week.

I basically focused by life around the gym for 6months or so. Also stopped drinking for the most part of it which makes a big difference, now i drink a bit more(socially) it much harder to lose weight tbh.

Diet wise;

08:00 - 3 egg ommelette and 40g oats in milk
10:00 - protein bar and 1 boiled egg
12:30 - 80g cous cous with 200g chicken
14:30 - Banana and tin of tuna
17:30 - Gym - 90-100mins cardio
19:30 - 200g chicken, boiled egg and loads of steamed veg
21:00 - 200g cottage cheese or 3 boiled egg whites

The above was (give or take) what i ate 6.5days a week. The .5 day thats missing consisted of eating everything and anything in sight! Chocolate, chips, pizza, ice cream etc... The logic is that by eating low carb/low calorie like i did/do, a "re-feed" of high carb/high calorie foods, gives the metabolism a kick start again. However it was also a good thing to look forward to and made the shitty dieting feel worth it a bit more.

The way i done it worked well, i lost alot of fat, kept the majority of any muscle mass i had and my lifts stayed constant throughout the dieting. It is a change of life though, no doubt.


The other way to do it is probably much more fun and easier to implement but i don't think the results would be as quick. By this, i would commit to the gym 4x a week 3 days of 90min cardio sessions and 1 day full body workout. Stick to your 3 meals a day, whole foods, meat, eggs, lots of veg and then snack on fruits if need be. You will deffo lose weight and it won't seem like such a chore

There are also the faddy diets, meal replacement shakes, atkins etc etc... but i'm not a huge fan tbh. Personal opinion.


Either way, if you up your levels of exercise from nothing, to something, it will have a positive effect, so you're on the right track.

Oh, and take pics of yourself now, then ever couple of weeks, documenting your progress, even if you don't whore them online like i did, it's good to look back on to motivate you and give you something to remind yourself of what you don't want to go back to!

Good luck big guy

Big Will_

Mark, Col - thanks for the info guys!

I'll try and get some pictures done today - 2 days in so definitely still a 'before'!

Admittedly, the thought of the gym is a painful one at the moment

Had an assessment with one of the personal trainers there yesterday and was pushed to complete failure on every exercise. Needless to say this morning i woke up with every joint feeling like it was dislocated and every muscle bruised

No pain no gain?

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

Well done on taking the first steps, the ones needed to change you're lifestyle are the difficult ones IMO.

I've been training for a few months now using what Coldo says is the more enjoyable method of changing diet to healthy but not 'hardcore' menus and meal times. I've also realised that you can workout through the pain of previous training... where as before I'd have laid down in a crumpled heap on the sofa, if you drag yourself up and get back into it then I find you recover more quickly and feel better because you've pushed yourself...... after a while, you'll get right into the groove with it and realise its the best decision you've ever made. Trust me.




Cheers,
Grant

Big Will_

Well, the agony of yesterday and everything hurting was still just the same today

Went and did 30mins on the cross trainer, 20 mins in the pool and 10mins in the sauna today to try and get things moving again.

Think i have overdone it a little though so going to have the weekend as a rest period and head back in on Monday