Introduction
So u wanna look better naked, huh? Well, the first thing u have to do is decide if u wanna gain or lose weight. So take off all your clothes and look at yourself in the mirror. If u think u look fat you probably are. If u think u look skinny you probably are.
In the following sections you will find terms you will need to know when trying to loose or gain weight.
Terminology
Calories
Calories determine whether or not u gain or lose weight. It's simple if u take in more calories than u burn, then u gain weight. If u use up more calories than u burn, then u lose weight. The rate in which u gain or lose weight depends on your metabolism. You probably know someone who can eat and eat and eat, but never gain weight, that's because they have a high metabolism. The kind of metabolism u have rite now was developed by your genetics; look at your parents, if they gain weight easily then u probably gain weight easily too. However, your metabolism can still be conditioned or trained through exercise and diet.
Diet and Nutrition
There are 3 main sources of calories: fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
Fat calories are bad.
Protein calories are good for gaining muscle. Foods that are high in protein are meat (chicken, pork, beef, fish), eggs, beans, and nuts. Protein is also not stored by the body as fat cells for later use. This means, if you drink 20g of protein, that will either be spent as energy or go to poo.
Carbohydrate calories are good as a source of energy. Foods that are high in carbohydrates are cereals, grains and bread such as bagel, white bread, whole wheat bread, white, rice, barley, oatmeal, spaghetti, pasta, muffins, etc. If u take in too much carbohydrates then your body will store the excess calories it doesn't use as fat for later use.
Tip and Basic Rule
Here are some rules you must follow when trying to loose weight or look cut.
- if u wanna lose weight do more reps and less weight this will get u cut if u wanna gain muscle do less reps and more weight this will get u bulkier (i.e a sprinter's legs are humongous compared to a long distance runner)
- muscle weighs more than fat
- if u think your getting bigger but aren't gaining weight u should do your legs your legs have sum of the biggest muscles in your body
- if u can't do an exercise with the proper form your doing too much weight
- add weight moderately
- if u can lift 100% of your body weight you're stronger than most people
- a good goal to reach is to be able to lift 150% of your body weight
- resting, stretching, warming up, and drinking plenty of fluids should be part of your work out to increase flexibility, prevent injury and dehydration, and to get the juices flowing
- try to add weight after every set
- if u can do 12 reps easily its time to add weight
- do at least 3 sets for every exercise
- do at least 3 exercises for each major body part
- do not exercise a certain muscle group if it is still sore work on another muscle group this allows time for muscles to grow back bigger and stronger
- if your not sore the next day u need to work harder
- maintenance is a must...don't skip any days...stick to your schedule...catching up is a bitch...
Facts:
1. It takes 3,500 calories burned to loose 1 pound
2. An average male will burn 2,000 - 2,500 calories per day
To loose weight, counting calories is important. Based on simple calculations you can figure out how much weight you can expect to loose in a certain amount of time.
I have about 4 months left, and since i don't work out during weekends that leaves me with 20 (days) x 4 (months) = 80 days.
Default calories burned per day: +2,500
Calories consumed per day: -1,200
Calories burned from exercise per day: +800
* Running 40 min: +300
* Swimming 30 min: +300
* Weights 20 min: +100
* Abs: 15 min: +100
( 2500 + 800) - 1200 = 2,100 Extra calories burned per day
If I am able to stick to this plan, i would burn (2100 x 80days) 168,000 calories in the next 80 days. 168k calories divided by the (3500 / 1 pound) rule becomes: 48 pounds.
Close to 50 pounds in 4 months? Achievable. Definitely. Fighting!
Please keep in mind that if you recently started working out and have minimal muscle mass, that will counter the number displayed on a scale. After 2 months, you can still be the same weight, but don't let this confuse you. You may simply be loosing fat, but be gaining muscle mass.
Muscle weighs more than fat, and it's what you want to build. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn each day. This is why i don't like scales, as it distracts a person from their goal. The best way i've found to measure weight loss is the way your clothes feel. If you notice your pants fitting looser, then keep at it!
The Secret:
Ok.. What is the secret to loosing tons of weight in a short period of time? The funny thing is that the answer is "weight." The more you weigh, the easier it is to loose weight. If you held a competition where a 400lbs man and a 150lbs man had 30 days to loose as much weight as possible, the 400lbs man would win. It's just easier for an overweight person to shed the pounds compared to someone who's just trying to loose 10lbs for summer.
1) "Don't eat anything after 6pm" is what i used to tell everyone. What i tell people now is to eat more frequently but smaller portions. Metabolism is key! Read up my article on metabolism by doing a search for "Diet Tips."
2) Watch your calorie consumption and be sure to burn more than you eat. Also, eating less carbs, junk food, salty foods - will help significantly.
3) Make working out a habit.
My workout plan was very simple.
1. Stretch
2. Run for 30 - 45 minutes. Treadmill speed set to 5.5 = 3-4 miles
3. Abs - Do about 200-400 crunches. This shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes. If it is, you are resting way too much between reps. The volume of reps depends on your fit level. I was able to do 50 reps per interval. Rest for about 1 minutes and do another.
4. Chest - Flat, Incline, Decline. 3 sets of 8-10 reps
5. Biceps/Triceps - For biceps i just used concetration curls. Triceps, i generally didn't focus on since they were used while doing my chest
6. Swimming - Great for shoulders. 10 laps with a variation of freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke.
7. Sauna - If your body retains fluids like a camel, then going in the sauna for about 10 minutes after a workout is good. Just make sure you rehydrate yourself after.
Remember: When you have no more calories to burn, your body uses fat as energy. (this is were you start loosing weight). This was a great motivation for me. Whenever i was hungry at 10pm.. i would imagine all those little fat cells on my love handles getting burned away.
Finally if you read this far, you are pretty commited. In conclusion - nothing will happen if you do nothing. The first step of weight loss and health management is you getting your sorry ass off the chair and being proactive. I know this is a lot of information to take in, and it's a hard road ahead. But one thing i can guarantee is results.
Remember:
1. Metabolism
2. Count Calories
3. Work out
Recommended Weight
| Height | Small Frame | Medium Frame | Large Frame |
| 5'0" | 101-109 | 107-117 | 115-130 |
| 1 | 104-112 | 110-121 | 118-133 |
| 2 | 107-115 | 113-125 | 121-136 |
| 3 | 110-118 | 116-128 | 124-140 |
| 4 | 113-121 | 119-131 | 127-144 |
| 5 | 116-125 | 122-135 | 130-148 |
| 6 | 120-129 | 126-139 | 134-153 |
| 7 | 124-133 | 130-144 | 139-158 |
| 8 | 128-137 | 134-148 | 143-162 |
| 9 | 132-142 | 138-152 | 147-166 |
| 10 | 136-146 | 142-157 | 151-171 |
| 11 | 140-150 | 146-162 | 156-176 |
| 6'0" | 144-154 | 150-167 | 160-181 |
| 1 | 148-158 | 154-172 | 165-186 |
| 2 | 152-162 | 159-177 | 170-191 |
| 3 | 156-167 | 164-182 | 174-196 |
| 4 | 160-171 | 169-187 | 178-201 |