I've been an avid Gym rat for the past 10 years, and have a good knowledge base on the basics of fat loss/ muscle gain. For my first 5 years (ages 18-23) of training I was focused on gaining muscle, so high protein foods/shakes, creatine, glutamine and any other GNC supplement that I could get my hands on were the mainstay of my diet. When I weighed 260lbs around 20%bf, I decided that a diet was in order so I rapidly increased my cardio, zero'd in on diet and cut out about 25lbs within about 4 months. Shortly after than I was engaged/married and fed real good
For the past 4 years, I've continued my gym visits (at least 4x a week) with minimal intensity, close to no cardio and wondered how I started to weigh *choke* 320lbs? Some muscle but mostly fat. In September my sister, who is studying to be a personal trainer, along with her aspiring NFL football player boyfriend, I decided enough was enough, time to get back in shape (I'd like to be 250lbs). We started with some high intensity outdoor workouts, lunges, agility drills, mixed with ab workouts, push-ups along with other exercises. Even though I HATE running I found that this type of cardio really produced results. (When I started I couldn't run 200yds without stopping/gasping for air, I am now up to 2 miles:) My sis' bf left for the CFL in late October and I really concentrated on my cardio, and lost close to 15 lbs in 5 weeks. When he returned we started heavy lifting (1.5hrs 4x a week, my heart rate averages about 150bps during those sessions), and continued cardio (at least 3x a week) as of last Friday evening I weighed 299lbs.... GREAT!!... so I thought. 11/26 I took the final step and zero'd in on my diet... (since Sept. I've been progressively getting better... less beer/ mcdonalds) I changed sub sandwiches for wraps and incoporated protien shakes at 10am and had a bannana in the evening, I was ingesting close to 2000 calories/day give or take 100. My goal was to be 287lbs on Dec 20th, and 275 on Jan 28 (trip to mexico
This is the point where I get really frustrated. On Friday I went out to dinner and had mexican food, and Saturday I went out with clients and had 3 drinks of Single Malt Scotch (Glenn Livet
), everything else in my eating remained the same. I went to do some running yesterday and I weighed 312lbs! WTF happened? I stopped dead in my tracks and thought... "what is the point of all this work to eat one crappy meal and have 3 drinks and gain 13lbs over the course of 2 days." My Sister thinks I haven't been eating enough, her BF thinks I've been eating to much... and I am pissed that my goal this week is now 305lbs not the 295lb mark I was hoping for
I am positive I'll battle excessive weight gain for my whole life, but I'd like to get to a manageable weight (I'm 6'4"). I think it is very possible for me to lose 2-3lbs a week pretty easily, and my goals aren't too far-fetched.
After reading that lengthy description of the last 10 years I am asking for your help with possible solutions. Am I eating enough? too much? Is maintaining a 150bps heart rate while lifting the same as running or riding a bike, or do I need to incorporate more running with that? Why on earth did I gain so much weight in such little time? I've also been having 1 glass of wine (really... 1 glass) with dinner does that have anthing to do with it? I sometimes think that not eating enough calories during the week, when I have my 1 cheat meal (in this case Mexican food) my body tries to "hold onto" that high caloric meal. As you can tell this is eating me alive, I have goals and get VERY discouraged when things don't go my way (sometimes I'm my own worst enemy.)
Thank you,
Matt