i need to lose the weight

[DamanDalegend]

I saw this somewhere and copied it for a friend of mine. I do not know how to give the credit to, if it is at this site or another site that I got it from, but it is REALLY good advice.
A friend of mine lost over 70 lbs by this advice.:

"Try this...it is a GREAT way to jump-start the fat-burning process in your body:
First, up your cardio to an hour/day
Weight training to mon/weds/fri (lift heavy but keep good form...don't lift SO heavy that your form gets too sloppy...but push yourself. It should NOT be easy.(Each pound of lean muscle we preserve can burn 30-50 more calories, potentially fat calories.)
Don't do too many crunches, it won't burn the fat in your tummy, it will just build your abs to the point where they make you look fat until your flex them.

WHEN you do your cardio is very important as well.
FIRST thing in the morning, before you eat anything is best. Get yourself a coffee, a glass of juice, and get on the bike, or something.

If for some odd reason you aren't determined enough to get out of bed in the morning to get your cardio in, then doing the cardio AFTER your weight training would be next best.

Now to your diet...
"trying" to watch what you eat isn't the same as "watching" what you eat.
you want to be successful or you don't. its as simple as that.

1700 calories is not a bad place to start.
you need to have a set diet-plan, and eat 6 times a day.
Protein is important. Lean muscle helps to burn fat faster. You need protein to build lean muscle, and to help your muscles to not be sore.

Here is a GREAT way to get your body prepped to burn fat:
The secret here is to turn your body into a FAT OXIDIZER. This requires a short transitional period that is kind of uncomfortable. But after a few days of adjustment, you'll be fine. When trying to burn FAT, your body prefers to burn glycogen (glucose) and protein (muscle) for fuel. It does not want to tap into your fat stores because it thinks you are starving. We try to circumvent this by using meal frequency and small 200-500 calories adjustments, however it is more critical to make macronutrient changes. You have to change the body's fuel preference away from carbs and protein and towards fat. How? Limit carbs- without carbs the body must chose between fat and muscle(limit...don't cut them out completely). We use anti-catabolics to preserve LBM(lean body mass) at all costs, so if there is less glycogen, and muscle is spared, then what becomes the preferred energy source - FAT!!! This requires eliminating ALL sugars- ALLLLL!!! and even post workout! It also means raising your fat intake in order to teach the body that this is the new fuel source- tell it to GET USE TO IT! So now, even though you are eating more fat, you still want to maintain a level slightly under the body's energy requirement- this is when you turn to your FAT STORES- the new preferential fuel source! Where do the CLEAN carbs play into this? Well, every so often you need to replace some glycogen in the liver and muscles, this prevents ketosis and ketoacidosis which can cause LBM loss.
What's a clean, slow burning carb? Generally we take into consideration where a carb sits on the Glycemic Index, it's fibre content and how rapidly it will convert to sugar once in the body. Slow-burning carbs include sweet potatoes, yams, old fashioned/steel cut oats, scotch/Irish oats, long grain brown rice, apples, berries, peaches, grapefruit and dark green veggies such as spinach and broccoli."

Training,
I'd start elliptical...distance. Changing things up every couple weeks helps too..don't only stick to one form of cardio. What works this month, may not be as effective next month.
Weights are best later in the day, when your body is slowing down. Make sure to have a protein meal or shake RIGHT after weight training workouts.
Try one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. I know your arms are probably full alot, I carry a small cooler/backpack along with everything else I need to cary during the day so that I can take my meals with me. it is very important to be consistatn with this..no matter what. This is what keeps your metabolism happy, so you can burn fat, or gain mass simply by adjusting your calories.
50%protein,30%carbs,20%fats. try to keep your fats healthy...flax,and other health omega fats, and your carbs whole grains, and pasta.(gotta have pasta) but REMEMBER, DON"T EAT CARBS LATE IN THE DAY OR AT NIGHT!!!!!
dont eat pizza...pizza IS the devil. (I love it, and am sad that I cant eat it.)

[staxripa]

dont be frustrated, im not surprized you saw an inital drop of weight now your lvling off, i belive thats common, what will happen when you start cardio is your body wil start to use its own fat reserves to fuel the workouts, look for a steady drop of 1-2 lbs of weight loss per week, forget the scale and use the mirror, if you look better you feel better.

[staxripa]

i just wanted to add this..............

think about how long it took you to get overweight, how many nights on the couch eating unneeded foods and ignoring your bodys needs during the day, week after week, month after month, year after year?!, results dont come overnight, think long term, weeks, months, years even!

when someone i know asks me how i leaned out, "what foods are you eating?" i like to ask them "what sport do you have to look good for?, what type of copmetion MUST you be lean to perform in?" simple, bodybuilding....so my point is eat how body builders eat to drop bodyfat. and start thinking of the foods you eat as your diet, not a diet, its not a temporary action, its forever.

[BYZA69]

good job joining the gym!!.....jump on that eleptical maching for 40 min 4 times a week and watch the fat melt away!!

i like to keep my intencity right at the point where i can breath enough to hold a conversation but still work up a good sweat, dont short yourself on oxygen during cardio.

What is a eleptical maching ?

[B-Diddy]

I was able to clean up my diet over the past two years, step by step, while beginning with cardio exercise that I also improved slowly over time. There will be times when you seem to be stuck at a certain weight. As long as you keep cleaning up the diet and improving your workout they will only be temporary. Sometimes you're gaining muscle and losing fat at an equal rate, so the scales stay the same even though you are still losing fat. Like these guys said, cutting calories doesn't mean you will lose fat. It takes hard work and careful dieting. Don't stop eating, just start eating healthier. Cut way down on bread, don't eat anything with processed sugar in it. That would be a good place to start. Eat as many green leafy veggies as you can and try to eat lean fish, chicken breast (only breast), and eggs (mostly whites.) If you can do that then you can start eating 5-6 small meals a day and you can then see a difference in your body from month to month, especially if you're starting to hit the cardio workout hard. It took over two years, but I am down to 13.5 % bodyfat from my starting point of over 20%. You can do it too, not saying it's easy because it isn't, but with a few months work it will be normal everyday habit and not such a struggle anymore.

[B-Diddy]

I just went back a page, I think you should feel free to start lifting weights too. I recommend doing fairly high repetitions with low weights, especially in the beginning. As you keep losing weight, at some point you'll want to change this, lowering repetitions in each set and increasing the weight you're lifting, but in the beginning it's gonna be better for you, especially considering your weight loss goals, to do high reps with moderate weights. When I started training with pro Muay Thai guys they had me doing 40-50 reps in a set. I was over 20% bf at the time and they had me running a km or two first as well. I'd say do at least 20-25 reps in a set to begin with. This will give your body time to adjust to the new training too. As the fat falls off you can drop the reps down, there will come a time when your original goals are exceeded and you can re-evaluate and change your routine then. This worked for me anyway, I'm happy with how I have progressed, and only recently moved to a serious low rep, high weight lifting routine. I'm glad I waited and kept with the high reps for so long, my body has really responded all through and I feel great. Just keep going with whatever you enjoy I suppose is the best advice, as long as you're doing something you'll get good results. Probably the most important thing is trying to stay motivated over a long period of time (the rest of your life, lol)

[loydchristmas]

Dont get discouraged if that scale doesnt move everytime you weigh yourself. Keep with the diet and excercise and u will accomplish your goals. There are gonna be times when you are holding more water, or have put on some muscle weight as well. Keep it up man, im rooting for ya. Gonna start my diet in 1 week. Thinkin about doing a journal on here.