OK, I think things are starting to come together... I'd love to know if you all agree with the direction I am heading.
First off, some background - I'm 28, 5-9, 188lbs, and really, really out of shape. I've been taking in about 3000 calories per day, the vast majority of which are the really bad calories, and a lot of them are in the evenings (when I'm least active). I've been putting on weight pretty steadily over the last year or so. Time to turn things around. My general goal is to slim down (drop the fat), add a little muscle, add a lot of definition. More specifically, I want to drop 20lbs and 2" from my waist - that will put me down to about 165 - then add 10lbs of defined muscle.
So, I did some research, and apparently I need 2800 calories per day to maintain the status quo. I'm going to cut that down to 2200, and divide it up as evenly as possible among fats, carbs, and proteins. I'm also going to eat less in the evenings, especially carbs. I am also going to try to do most of my eating earlier in the day, rather than cramming in all my calories after work.
Click here to see day 1 on the road to cleaner eating.
As for the workout side of things, I'm going to do a mix of all the good stuff - cardio, interval training, and weights. I put together a preliminary 5-day routine that I started this morning. It will probably change slightly once I've been through it once or twice, but it's enough to get me going.
Monday: Abs, 60 minutes cardio
Tuesday: Chest, Triceps, 30 minutes high intensity interval training (HIIT)
Wednesday: Abs, Legs, 30 minutes HIIT
Thursday: Back, Shoulders, Biceps, 30 minutes HIIT
Friday: Abs, 60 minutes cardio
I'll probably mix in a spin class or two each week as time allows.
Thoughts?
First off, some background - I'm 28, 5-9, 188lbs, and really, really out of shape. I've been taking in about 3000 calories per day, the vast majority of which are the really bad calories, and a lot of them are in the evenings (when I'm least active). I've been putting on weight pretty steadily over the last year or so. Time to turn things around. My general goal is to slim down (drop the fat), add a little muscle, add a lot of definition. More specifically, I want to drop 20lbs and 2" from my waist - that will put me down to about 165 - then add 10lbs of defined muscle.
So, I did some research, and apparently I need 2800 calories per day to maintain the status quo. I'm going to cut that down to 2200, and divide it up as evenly as possible among fats, carbs, and proteins. I'm also going to eat less in the evenings, especially carbs. I am also going to try to do most of my eating earlier in the day, rather than cramming in all my calories after work.
Click here to see day 1 on the road to cleaner eating.
As for the workout side of things, I'm going to do a mix of all the good stuff - cardio, interval training, and weights. I put together a preliminary 5-day routine that I started this morning. It will probably change slightly once I've been through it once or twice, but it's enough to get me going.
Monday: Abs, 60 minutes cardio
Tuesday: Chest, Triceps, 30 minutes high intensity interval training (HIIT)
Wednesday: Abs, Legs, 30 minutes HIIT
Thursday: Back, Shoulders, Biceps, 30 minutes HIIT
Friday: Abs, 60 minutes cardio
I'll probably mix in a spin class or two each week as time allows.
Thoughts?
