I am doing this right... right?

justjumpit278

Hey everyone. I've been lurking for a long time but never actually been too active on the forums. Browsing topics and looking at success stories for motivation, but that's the extent of it!

I was reading some threads tonight and it got me thinking... Do I really have the correct approach for the best way for me to lose weight?

I'm 21 years old, 5'3" and currently weigh between 178 and 180. My eventual goal is to maintain between 135 and 140. Not only do I want to lose weight, but I want to be toned as well. I try to get to the gym about 4 days a week. I try to get in about 30 minutes of cardio, whether its the treadmill, arc trainer or elliptical (thats my favorite). Then afterwards I always try to get in some strength training because I know building muscle is important as well as getting your heart pumping. I usually try to work on my triceps, biceps, glutes, obliques, and back muscles. If I'm at home at I can't get to the gym, I try to get at least 15 minutes of lunges, squats, crunches, push ups, using my resistance bands, exercise ball, etc.

As far as eating goes, I'm trying to reduce overall. I'm very guilty of mindless snacking even when I'm not hungry. As well as reducing, I'm trying to work more fresh fruits and veggies into my diet as well as whole grains and lean proteins such as chicken and fish instead of so much red meat.

Instead of three large meals a day, I try to do 5 medium/small meals a day. My goals are breakfast is 250-300, mid morning snack 100-150, lunch 300-400, afternoon snack 100-150 and dinner 500-600.


With all that said, I've only seriously committed myself to this within the last 2-3 weeks. So I guess the point of this post is... is there anything else I should know?

I see all these posts about macros, tons of protein, IIFYM, TDEE, no carbs, and some other stuff I can't even comprehend. :huh: Is there anything I'm seriously missing to get the best results for my body?

Thanks to everyone in advance!

PS - Please feel free to add me as a friend! Everyone needs extra motivation

Sunshine2plus2

Sounds like it about right to me! I never did the macro, tdee, carbs etc.. stuff. Just eat healthy and exercise! It will come off! Good luck to you!

hearthemelody

It sounds like you are on the right track, but I would look into weight lifting. It is great!

CarlHelgesson

Agree, it really sounds like you are right on track!


Some small tips, you choose if you want to use them or not:

* If possible, try to separate your weight training from your cardio. By doing this it will benifit your muscles and prolong your fat burning process during the day. Example; do your cardio first thing in the morning and your weight workout in the evening.

* Don't forget your protein. Proteins are the building blocks of your muscles, and will enhance your fat burning as well.

* Eat your carbs around your weight training workouts. In that way your body will use your carbs when they need them the most.

* Drink a lot of water. You'll get lots of waste products due to your diet, it's important to flush them out. Water, generally, is also important for weight loss.


Good luck!

justjumpit278

Agree, it really sounds like you are right on track!


Some small tips, you choose if you want to use them or not:

* If possible, try to separate your weight training from your cardio. By doing this it will benifit your muscles and prolong your fat burning process during the day. Example; do your cardio first thing in the morning and your weight workout in the evening.

* Don't forget your protein. Proteins are the building blocks of your muscles, and will enhance your fat burning as well.

* Eat your carbs around your weight training workouts. In that way your body will use your carbs when they need them the most.

* Drink a lot of water. You'll get lots of waste products due to your diet, it's important to flush them out. Water, generally, is also important for weight loss.


Good luck!

Thanks for the tips! I've definitely been trying to up my protein, especially at breakfast. If I don't have a high protein breakfast, I usually feel very sluggish until lunch.
And water is definitely very important! I completely cut out all sodas, juices, etc. Except for maybe at breakfast, I'll drink about 4 oz or so of orange juice, but other than that, its water all day.

Thanks for the input everyone

thatguyalex

Small tip...my trainer constantly yells at me for eating more calories at the end of the day than the beginning...her logic is super simple (and backed up by the literature), what do you need 600 calories (in your case) for dinner for? Breakfast really should be your biggest meal of the day...

Course I fail regularly at that...

Rayman79

IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT TIME OF DAY YOU EAT YOUR CALORIES OR HOW MANY MEALS YOU HAVE.

Sorry for shouting but I wanted to make the point clearly. If you are involved in serious training more than once per day, working on very low carbs or trying to maximise athletic performance (minimal advantage for serious athletes) then nutrient timing will matter significantly.

In most cases the overall daily/weekly intake is of FAR more significance than the micro management of macro and meal timing.

If you get the right amount of calories (usually 10-20% under your TDEE) and a good split of your macro nutrients, then you are 80% of the way there already! Too often people get caught up in the minutia and make it more difficult for themselves.

If you want to have 2 or 5 meals per day, or anything in between, go for it. Do what works for you and your lifestyle. :drinker:

Rayman79

Sorry, missed a part.

With respect to your training, do your resistance (weight) training first. You will want the energy and this is where you will make the biggest changes to your body (in both fat loss and muscle retention). You can do a quick cardio warmup (eg 5 minutes) and also a short cardio session after lifting if it works for you and you have the energy left.

For most people, doing weights and cardio on different days seems to work better, it gives your body more time to recover and allows you to get a bit more intensity in your training sessions.

That said, play around with the timing and see what works best for you. Like it is with eating, training doesn't need to be overcomplicated.

ottermotorcycle

There's plenty of advice and different perspectives that people can give you, but I think you're doing great! Just my 2 cents!

The other things, like nutrient mix and workout timing... are all about what makes you feel the best (clear-headed, energetic) and what suits your lifestyle.

ndj1979

Agree, it really sounds like you are right on track!


Some small tips, you choose if you want to use them or not:

* If possible, try to separate your weight training from your cardio. By doing this it will benifit your muscles and prolong your fat burning process during the day. Example; do your cardio first thing in the morning and your weight workout in the evening.

* Don't forget your protein. Proteins are the building blocks of your muscles, and will enhance your fat burning as well.

* Eat your carbs around your weight training workouts. In that way your body will use your carbs when they need them the most.

* Drink a lot of water. You'll get lots of waste products due to your diet, it's important to flush them out. Water, generally, is also important for weight loss.


Good luck!

I agree with everything except the point on carbs…it really does not matter when you eat carbs..if you eat in a calorie deficit you will lose weight.

ndj1979

Small tip...my trainer constantly yells at me for eating more calories at the end of the day than the beginning...her logic is super simple (and backed up by the literature), what do you need 600 calories (in your case) for dinner for? Breakfast really should be your biggest meal of the day...

Course I fail regularly at that...

sorry, but this is wrong …

Does not matter when you eat your calories…your body still carries out bodily functions that require energy in the evening, and even while you are asleep ..

As long as you are in a deficit it does not matter…

why do you think it would matter if you were in a smaller deficit in the morning or the evening…? As if that is even possible...

ndj1979

OP ..here is my advice…

Familiarize yourself with compound movements and lift heavy for you. Starting strength and new rules of lifting are great resources on compound movements.

Develop a program around compounds where you work out with weights three days a week something like Monday - chest/arms; tues - cardio; wens - legs; thurs cardio/abs; friday - back/shoulders; saturday and sunday rest or active rest..the cardio is not necessary but if you want to speed up fat/weight loss it will come in handy. Eventually you can go to more of an upper/lower split type routine and less cardio...

set your macros, in MFP custom settings, to 40 protein, 30 carbs, 30 fats..< these are percentages

Stay in a calorie deficit.

Finally, do not restrict the foods you like. 80% healthy, 20% whatever you want is a good rule to follow….

alt1268

I think before you write off tdee and such you should research it urself. This is very important because we are not the same as mfp says we are. We are different ages, sex, weight, height, actively levels , etc.
So we should not all have the same calorie setting.
A good website is scooby works or scooby tdee. You can also research it here on the community. But yes it is important. Don't blow it off.