Best Plan for an Overweight Endomorph?

[Dave I]

Hey all,

I am learning a lot, however, I have a few probably relatively minor things that I have done in the past that might affect what is best for me.

First, my goals. I want to go from my current body fat percentage (BFP) or 20 to 23% down to between 4% and 13%, preferably on the lower end. I am 5'8" and currently weigh around 194. I also want to eventually put on mass/strength but getting cut is my first priority, preferably without losing muscle. Pretty basic.

I am wondering two things primarily: cardio and diet. I think I have the lifting thing down.

1) Cardio. Based on Tom Venuto's book, I can and should do cardio 6-7 times a week at 30-45 minutes moderate-to-high intensity, possibly even twice a day, until I get my BFP down and then going to a more normal schedule. I am totally fine with that, however was wondering what others have experienced or what the downside might be. I also have flat feet, so I usually hit the stationary bike and read as well as I can while keeping the intensity up.

2) Diet. I am the classic endomorph. Slightly reddish hair (was blond, turning brown as I age), blue eyes, fair skin, gain strength fine (not superman, but not pip squeak either) and gain weight fine, do not really lose either all that well. My concern is that I was on the Bowflex Body Plan's diet, roughly 1500 to 1800 calories a day and went from 230 to 180-ish and kind of plateaued, in part because I was not sticking quite as strictly to the diet. Anyway, I want to boost my metabolism as much as possible. Would a 3000+ calorie diet with restricted carbs for somebody realistically lifting at least three times a week and doing at least three and more likely six days of 30-45 minutes of cardio going to be about right for my body? I got that from a calorie calculator I found a link to in another thread, but that seems like a lot compared to what I am used to, although my metabolism is s-l-o-w.

For what it is worth, my supplements are Creatine Monohydrate, Whey Protein (Chocolate [img]/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ), Multi-Vitamin, and I want to add Amino Shooters once I figure out what kind to get and where the best place is to get them, and maybe a mineral supplement. Not sure if any of that makes a difference in what you guys & gals recommend, but I thought it best to be upfront.

-Cheers

[Headlysocal]

Hey Bro you can't go wrong with cardio, if you got the time for 6 or 7 times a week that's awsome.As far as the calories remember input = ouput carbs or no carbs the best way to lose is calorie deficit.3,000 Kcal sounds like alot for a 3 time a week lifter.When you hit a plateau try changing things up ie; more cardio,cycling carbs,mixing up your macros,high and low cal days etc.

[Dave I]

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Hey Bro you can't go wrong with cardio, if you got the time for 6 or 7 times a week that's awsome.

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It is becoming just a matter of getting up 45-60 minutes earlier than I would otherwise and doing cardio before work (or before my daughter wakes up) and lifting weights at night three-to-five days a week (either after work or after my daughter goes to bed depending on my wife's preference & plans).


[ QUOTE ]
As far as the calories remember input = ouput carbs or no carbs the best way to lose is calorie deficit.3,000 Kcal sounds like alot for a 3 time a week lifter.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, therein kind of lies my problem. I was on a roughly 1,500 calorie diet (more or less), but it sounds like that might be too little to get great results, and might lead to my body eventually going into starvation mode & relapsing (although it has not happened yet). So I have no idea what my caloric intake should really be since I was already on a low-caloric diet but plan on doing more physical activity. How do I boost my metabolism and cut the fat without overdosing on excessive calories causing my body to store a lot of fat despite my wishes, or without cutting calories so much I start to lose muscles and shut down my metabolism?

Should I start around 2,000 to 2,250 calories a day and monitor my results, or should I start higher or lower on the calorie count?

-Cheers

[Jinxplayer]

Well like you said, you eating 1500 cals a day put you further away from your goals. You can either find out your LMB and figure out your caloric needs that way, you can average out what your eating, hell, you could just say, im going to start at 2500 cals a day and every week/every other week, drop that by 100 cals..

Its all up to how your body responds, and its up to you to feel it out.

[Dave I]

According to the Katch-McArdle formula, I need about 2860 calories a day for maintainance of my current weight and 2290 calories a day (20% in calories) is at kind of the low end for what I should eat for weight loss. So that is where I am going to start and adjust from there. I am hoping that spread out over six meals a day, along with an increase in cardio, will boost my metabolism, while lifting 3 to 5 days a week will help me maintain my muscle and strength, maybe even squeeze some more muscle out of my workout, and then drop down to single-digit body fat over time and bulk up after I get cut.

If that seems at all problematic, feel free to point out the errors of my ways.

-Cheers

[Gregsimo]

I would figure out your calorie intake by reducing you maintainence calories by 250 each week until you start losing around 2lbs a week, then when you plateau (which you will) drop 250 again until you start losing again. Try eating 8 small meals every 2-3 hours during the day rather than 6 and avoid sugars and fast digesting carbs, this will make your metabolism go boom! Ive found an excellent way to aid your metabolism is to put jalepeno peppers or roasted chillis in with your salads, it helped my mum when she was losing weight, no clue why tho. Just make sure you dont overdo things while lifting ie muscle pulls or strains as these will stop you from doing cardio.

[Gregsimo]

also advice from my doctor for losing weight was to avoid eating any fruit! this might sound silly but fruit is efficient at replenishing stored glycogen in both the liver and muscle cells, so by not eating fruit you will utilise other energy sources when you perform cardio. and also only eat sugar or fast digesting carbs immediately after your workout.