Just wondering what would be the best way to go about losing about 50lbs while also adding lean muscle to my frame (exercises, diet, etc.) I'm about 6'2" and 255 lbs. Any help would be appreciated.
you're going to get different responses on this.. there is a thread somewhere here discussing the exact topic.. i'll try to find it.
Try doing 3 days of weights and 3 days of cardio and make sure to take a day off.
Here is one version of eating guidelines.
- Eat every 2-3 hours (shoot for 6 meals a day)
- Eat lean protein, complex carbs (starchy and/or fibrous) and healthy fats at every meal. An exception is to eliminate fat post workout and have a higher GI carb then.
- Keep each meal about the same size and with an even distribution of your macros (in other words, don't have 50g of protein at one meal and then 20g at the next).
- Cluster your starchy carbs at breakfast, preworkout and postworkout. Have mainly fibrous carbs at other meals.
- For your last meal of the day, have a slow digesting protein and healthy fat (cottage cheese + nuts is one example)
- Do not skimp on fats. Eating fats will ensure testosterone production and will go a long way to keeping you feeling satiated, which will ultimately help you to stay on your diet.
- Have shakes post workout only. Eat real food the rest of the time.
- Supplement with a multi-vitamin, multi-mineral and EFAs.
Lean proteins: egg whites, chicken (boneless, skinless, baked or broiled), turkey (real turkey, not from the deli counter), low fat cottage cheese, soy, any fish (including fatty fish like salmon and catfish), tuna, protein powder, top round (aka London Broil)
Starchy carbs: brown rice, oats, barley, beans, legumes, whole grain bread (in moderation), whole grain pasta (in moderation), millet, quinoa, potato (baked)
Fibrous carbs: Just about any veggie but especially green ones. (Corn is a starch.)
Healthy fats: olive oil, avocado, seeds (esp. flax), nuts and nut butters, fatty fish, EFAs.
oh yeah... many people will also say you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time unless you're a beginner.
I'm not going to get into that debate, but I did lose weight and gain some muscle following Body For Life. I was new to lifting and eating well though.
when you add muscle it will by itself burn fat just by having more muscle. maintaining muscle takes a lot more calories than maintaining fat so muscle will burn more calories at rest than fat will.
incorporate high intensity training into your workouts and also in addition to everything else add one 24hr water fast per week to your new lifestyle. if youre carrying around some extra fat you will not suffer any negative health effects and shouldnt feel much on an energy loss doing so
Thanks for the help. It's appreciated.
add 3-4 tablespoons of flax oil or ground flaxseed meal along with, throughout the day, 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of celtic sea salt. the flax is high in fat by itself but it's one of those things that improves overall health and its the kind of fat that helps burn fat. i dont have the whole explanation behind it and i know it doesnt sound right but theres some reason why it makes sense. the celtic sea salt also has essential minerals that we just have almost no way of getting in our regular diets
a guy at my church who was having some weight and heart issues i talked to and i recommended that he work this stuff into his diet and within a week he said he was feeling a lot better and his blood pressure was consistently reading lower