Hello! I'm new here, but not new to the game. Maybe this will help someone...

getofftheschnide

As a former athlete (primarily swimming and soccer at pro/Olympic levels), model and trainer, now aged 40 doing primarily a desk job (studio producer) and coming in at 6' x 250 lbs (normal "peak" weight from 18-38 was 185-205 on/off season).. the biggest I've ever been was 220 and that was after a 3 month summer vacation.. so yeah, its time for me to get back into the swing of it.

The following is basically the same routine I followed back in the day (pre-season crash course), so I'm going with what I know. I'm still in the early stages of my "come back", but this has always worked for me in the past.. so just maybe something I've written will help someone here.

2 weeks in (12 workouts) and at my first weigh-in I've lost 5 lbs. Not impressive by any stretch, I was hoping for more.. but I have noticeably lost a bit of the old gut and facial baby chub, which is pleasing. More importantly, I'm starting to feel like an athlete again. Its amazing what 2 short weeks can do to 2 years of semi-laziness. The goal is to land somewhere in between 190-200 within 2-3 months and then maintain. Of course, only time will tell just how good my "going with what I know" plan is/was. It has worked time and again before, but at age 40.. mmm K we'll see

What am I doing you ask? Because I am self employed, I am fortunate enough to pick and choose my gym hours etc., I am an early riser and late to bed kinda guy.. so I disco nap to make up hours.. usually 4 hours in the afternoon siesta and 4 -5 hours at night. Regardless, it's early morning (5am) straight to the gym for 30 minutes of inclined slow to fast walking/jog on the treadmill. To pass the time quickly, I play games on my phone - hey, it works. On bicep days (2 days per week), I do various types of every other minute lightweight dumbbell curls and raises while on the treadmill, as a sort of warm up/half workout. I'm on the treadmill 6 days per week - Sunday is my rest day. I go early simply because the gym is empty and watching the sun rise while working out is therapeutic for me. It really restarts the mind and body in preparation for a day full of creative endeavors.

I split my weight training 2 days on/1 day off, separating body parts (day 1. chest/triceps/legs - day 2. shoulder/biceps/back/calfs/abs - day 3. no weights).

I started with 1 x 10 for each exercise (low to moderate weight) - week 1. 2 x 10 week 2 (increased weight) and so on.. capping out at 3 sets x 8 reps (medium weight/to failure) per exercise / 2 exercises per body part (starting this week). I try to superset everything - if not, no more than 30 seconds rest ever in between sets (usually going directly from one to the other within 5 seconds or so), alternating sets with upper/lower body parts to allow for some added recuperation time. I am in and out of the gym in 45 mins to 1 hour, but that will increase to 90 minutes once in full swing (next week).

Food... post workout (after swim cool down laps/shower/within 30 mins) protein shake with one scoop of vanilla, 1.5 litres ice cold spring water, a handful of blueberries and goji berries. YUM! I'm feeling full for 3 hours. My main meal is usually a wrap or three.. with a lean meat/protein, lots of veg, and sometimes plain yogurt and diluted hot sauce for moisture and taste. I'll have 2 or 3 10" wraps (depends on how much veg I prepared, to fit in the wraps!). Good to go for another 3-5 hours. My evening meals/snacks consist of fresh fruit, popcorn (popped with coconut oil, a pinch of sea salt, various pepper spices - to taste) and/or about a bucket of tea with moderate amounts of honey for some sweetness. On average I go through 5 x 1.5 litre bottles of water per day (more if/when overdoing the tea). Topped off with 8-9 hours of sleep everyday and thats it folks! I haven't felt any urge to cheat (a weekly 14" pizza was my Achilles heal - once I reach the maintaining stage, I will replace this with a healthy homemade version). The food I'm now eating tastes so damn good.. why cheat?!

Oh.. and I only use natural coconut oil for any/all cooking duties. No butter, no other oils, no cheese (very small amounts of plain yogurt is the only diary), no pasta, no rice (only a small portion of brown occasionally), no breads (outside of thin 10" wraps) no fast food fried crap, no alcohol (an occasional glass or two of red can be good though), no sports drinks, colas, cakes, candy etc. YUCK! You know the deal.


One BIG tip: START SLOW and gradually build up to a proper routine! No matter how fired up you are, take it easy. Burnout is real. Injuries are real. Week 1 should be nothing more than walking, stretching and warm-up types of exercise. If you are seriously overweight, walk slowly with some hand weights for 20 mins a day... or shoot some hoops, even if just a game of standing HORSE for an hour (you're moving, and that is the point!), muck about in a swimming pool if you have bad joints/pain (the pool is a GREAT exercise tool!) and build from there. Forget about the crap on TV where these people lose 50 lbs in a week (there was a dude on Aussie Biggest Loser who supposedly lost a crazy 65 lbs in week one!!), working out 7 hours a day from day 1, everyday etc.... this is the wrong way to get healthy. These people are working out under strict 24/7 medical supervision, basically, living in a hospital for 3 months or whatever. Seriously, you'll only hurt yourself, put yourself out of the game for weeks, if not months and prolong any dreams of weight loss. Take your time and do it right. Put in the hard work and you'll get results.

So thats it for today.. nice to meet everyone here! Best of luck (as if) in reaching your goals! )