T Nation

A Little Help Here

Beginners
#1

OK… I’ve come to a difficult realization, I’m fat and I’m having a hard time doing something about it.

I’ve trained for years, but it’s been on and off (more off) over the last 5 years or so. I’ve always geared my training towards strength over appearance (I have competed in power-lifting and a few amateur strongmen competitions) and I’m still pretty strong, although my endurance is crap.

For example, I trained legs for the first time in 3 months last week and had no problem squatting 315 for 3 sets of 4 -6 reps, but I was completely gassed by the time I hit my third exercise. I trained chest for the first time in a month and did 3 sets of incline DB with 120’s for 8 , but I was almost completely fried afterward (my subsequent bench sets were ridiculously light).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that those weights are tremendous (I can still pull over 500 off the floor… which is the closest I can get to an impressive lift these days), but considering I’m at about 30% body fat and training once or twice a week (if I’m lucky), they aren’t terrible. I think what I need help with is finding some sort of structure for a weight loss program.

Has anyone had success losing weight with any of the programs on here? I’m looking for any ideas, anything you guys could point me to re: cardio, nutrition or different training techniques (especially anything with a flexibility focus). I’m not a beginner, but since I let myself get into terrible shape, I kind of feel like I should label myself a beginner and go from there… thanks in advance, any help would be appreciated.

#2

Congratulations, youve acknowledged you have an issue & have taken the first step to fixing it - let me ask you a blunt Q - why are you fat?

#3

I eat too much, most of what I eat is crap and I don’t exercise enough (I wish it was a thyroid problem… but no such luck). Honestly, I think it’s partly a lack of dedication and partly a lack of motivation. I wish I could say it was a a lack of time or point to a specific reason, but there isn’t any one reason, just general apathy (and a few injuries that I like to bitch about, but that I can definitely train around). No excuses though, I fell off the wagon big time and I’m going to do what I have to do to get back in shape. If you can point to any authors or programs that you think might be helpful, I would appreciate it.

#4

Good shit man. You need to change your psychology. You’ve acknowledged you dont like who you are, so fucking change it. As long as you keep thinking you’re a pathetic person, thats who you’ll be. write down who you want to be, what they do, what they eat, how, when & where they train etc. & start becoming them. Read it aloud a few times a day (when you know youre alone becuase you’ll feel like a dickhead). You know the food you eat is crap, yet you keep doing it, because thats who you think you are. In your head you think youre a fat person & you eat shit, so you keep feeding that idea, literally & figuratively. You stay fat & you keep eating shit - make sense?

Set some small goals & start achieving them. If eat McDs 6x a day & you set a goal to only it 5x a day, havent you achieved something? Isnt that a positive change? Now gain some momentum & set small goals in every part of your life & then bigger ones. Keep them realistic but challenging.

You ever thought about boxing? Not much keeps your cardio up & weight down quicker then boxing.

In the meantime, go buy Ross Enamaits stuff, he has excellent programs for athletes. Wiggys stuff is great too. 5/3/1 has some excellent programming in it (Moving North Of Vag will really help you) & may be the best place to start, til you can get some weight off your joints & is strength orientated). in terms of diet, Shelby Starnes carb cycle stuff is great & so is Dr Clays, should be a link to his free book at the end of any of his articles on here… hope that helps man.

#5

Big help. I appreciate the advice. Good luck in your training. I’ll check all that stuff out.

#6

The easiest way to clean up your diet, and get you started loosing weight is to shop the parameter of the grocery store (buy fresh, avoid food that comes in a box) and then make all your own food. That will go a long way towards correcting many problems.

#7

The easiest way to clean up your diet, and get you started loosing weight is to shop the parameter of the grocery store (buy fresh, avoid food that comes in a box) and then make all your own food. That will go a long way towards correcting many problems.

#8

First of all, your results will be absolutely minimal, at best, if you’re only “training once or twice a week” regardless of your nutrition.

What’s your current height and weight?

[quote]KillShotNY wrote:
I’m looking for any ideas, anything you guys could point me to re: cardio, nutrition or different training techniques (especially anything with a flexibility focus).[/quote]

Either look into the V-Diet. Plenty of people see good fat loss with it, but it’s as strict as it is simple. Folks either seem to step up to the challenge and thrive, or crash and burnout fast:

Or start by getting your nutrition into some semblance of order. 28 Days, 14 Missions is a good step-by-step way to gradually organize your eating:

Training-wise, I’d look into complexes, since you’re not a true beginner and it sounds like you can handle a hard workout:


[quote]I’m fat and I’m having a hard time doing something about it …
I eat too much, most of what I eat is crap and I don’t exercise enough …
it’s partly a lack of dedication and partly a lack of motivation …
there isn’t any one reason, just general apathy[/quote]

Better now? :wink:

You can change things if you want to. It ain’t easy, but it’s possible.

#9

Thanks for the tips… love the clip. You guys are right, it’s a matter of getting my butt in gear and being dedicated. My current height is 5’ 9" (I don’t anticipate that changing, although it would be nice) and my current weight is 260lbs. I’m down 9lbs. since I started “training” 3 weeks ago, but I’m pretty sure most of that is water and being more regular.