What Should I Do Now?

Diet and Nutrition
1

Hello, I am new here and I need some help.

I am 19 years old and here were my previous ‘stats’.

June 2007
Height 5’8
Weight 230

March 2008
Height 5’8
Weight 180

Goal: I want to get to 10% body fat.

So in about 6-7 months I was able to lose about 50 pounds.
My problem is I have been 180 for about 3 months now, since January, and haven’t been able to lose anymore.

I have a very high body fat percentage (I’m pretty sure its consider high). Its about 23%-25%.

I really want to be lean and have definition. I am noticeably more fit but extremely flabby, especially in my stomach area. I lost my ‘love handles’ but my stomach still sticks out and ‘overhangs’. Sorry for the horrible imagery. Nothing else on my body is overly large except for my stomach, and I walk around with my stomach pushed in because I look weird if I don’t. I don’t want to continue doing this.

I went to my local supplement shop and bought the following products.
-Fiber capsules
-CLA
-Whey Protein Powder
-Creatine
-Fish Oil

There is no gym close to me. So I bought a Universal weight machine, a few dumbells (up to 35 pounds). I also received a treadmill, and bike (not a real bike, an exercise bike) from my overweight neighbors who are to lazy to use it.

What is the best way for me to utilize my current supplements and exercise machines?

I am very concerned because I will not be able to do any muscle building using the universal machine or dumbbells from Monday-Wednesday. How can I work around this?

Are there any plans I can follow that would fit my goal of 10% body fat percentage. Is this sufficient for my height? I believe you need 12% in order to see abs but I am not positive on this. Any further information would be helpful. I tried something called the “Velocity Diet” on this site where you drink whey protein shakes all day. It was extremely difficult and it only lasted 1 day. I feel if I get into the zone I could accomplish it. But I’m not sure if this is even the best diet for me. Any suggestions?

I hope I gave enough information regarding my situation. I appreciate any help you can give.

2

Are you serious?

3

I’ll give you what little info I have. Walking in the morning for a 1/2 hour before breakfast (possibly an egg white or two before walking) will be a valuable tool. Interval cardio is an exceptional tool as well along with Latic acid producing cardio (you can read about it in the couple of articles below). You say you cannot lift 3 days in a week. That’s perfectly fine. Take one of those days as your off day and do some form of cardio on the other two. You’ll only be needing to lift three-four days a week anyways.

Nutrition wise, I’d stick to carbs only at breakfast and post workout. At all other times of the day stick to healthy fats, veggies and PROTEIN!! Protein is key here because of high thermic effect of food, muscle retention, etc. Also, on your off days, eat fewer calories and less carbs. You have quality supplements, so you have to utilze those (especially the fish oil)

Here are some articles you might want to look at.

http://elitefts.com/documents/metabolic_acceleration_training.htm

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1499282

http://www.T-Nation.com/findArticle.do?article=06-025-diet

And lastly, this is serious stuff. While you did lose a considerable amount of weight, your timid nature regarding the v-diet leaves me questioning your will to actually reach or (gasp!) breach the 10% barrier. I hope that you get what you want, but realize that it will take a great deal of work. The v-diet is very effective from what I hear and it is an option you should consider.

4

----EDIT-----

I had a long post here crying about how bad whey protein tasted, but I deleted it because I was being an idiot.

Ok, where can I go to find the ‘holy grail’ article on the Velocity Diet?

Is it this Chris Shugart article? http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=546491

Are there any other helpful articles that you may suggest?

5

yup, that’s the article. As for other articles, I’ve found that anything by John Berardi is excellent. Also, id you really don’t want to go with the velocity diet, there are several others that will work (albeit not as effectively in such a short time frame) The article below mentions the T-dawg diet, but there’s an updated one - T-dawg 2.0

http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=459809&cr=

Also, one of the most respected coaches on the continent and on this site outlines his transofrmation here:

http://www.T-Nation.com/article/bodybuilding/the_beast_evolves&cr=

This article is excellent becuase it tells you steps by step what to do.