For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Jak]

There have been a few fitness/workout threads posted in the last year or so but nothing really touches on a few questions I have. I've googled, asked people, etc. but I can't get answers to my questions so I'll try here..

Over time I've gone from 250~ pounds to 149 pounds as of this last week. This has been a slow process that has never really emphasized working out.. just great dieting and some minor cardio. As you can imagine this has left me with a less than stellar body (in fact, an incredibly horrible body under the clothes). People always think I'm super anorexic, way too thin, etc. at 6'0 and 150 pounds but they can't see underneath the clothes.. and don't see the fact that I have absolutely no muscle/definition to me.

So my questions would be..

[1] I have a 50-60 minute schedule planned out. Thirty minutes of this is cardio (fairly intensive) with the other 20-30 being various restrictive weight training with dumbells, my bowflex, and other items at home. After I've done my workout, what the hell am I suppose to do? Is it normal for me to just play FF:XI or whatever? It's too dark to go outside and do anything else. What do you guys who work out do after or what SHOULD I be doing?

[2] I have every intention of putting on muscle and continuing to lose fat at the same time but I'm afraid doing cardio is going to actually hurt gaining muscle. Should I do less cardio and more restrictive exercising? I always feel more pumped up and energized when I do cardio.. but only after 15~ minutes.

[3] Since I have a 0% chance of ever making it to a gym (the closest is an hours drive if not more).. but I do have access to my bowflex, stair master, treadmills, etc. what is my best bet at aiding muscle growth / toning up this blob I call my body. Like.. maybe exercises I wouldn't normally think of (or maybe putting a twist to an old one like situps, pushups, benchpressing, etc.)

[4] What, if any, do you guys use for protein shakes? I have a whey protein mix thing that I throw in with skim milk, ice, and a banana.. but that shit gets seriously hard to drink after a week (I'm not a big sweet-tooth person). And if you don't use protein shakes.. where does the majority of your protein come from? I'd guess the same as mine which is grilled chicken, fish, turkey, fat-free cottage cheese, fish, tuna, more fish, and ... fish.


Yah, sorry if this wasn't worth making a thread over.. I just want input from every direction. ANY input would be amazing as I'm really serious about my body and doing the actual WORK I should have done the whole time I lost weight. I'm tired of being the "anorexic" fatty underneath it all lol.. and I'd really like to do those marathons the big cities have one day without being embarassed of passing out five minutes in.

[Aerides]

If you are 6' and 150 you are skinny enough and probably don't need to lose fat or do cardio beyond health/heart conditioning. With a few exceptions, for that height you're at the minimum you'd normally want to be - but yes if that's ZERO muscle that should be your focus vs. dropping fat that's probably barely there. You can't diet for skin.

You said no gym near you, how about a Y - or a Doctor?? How old you are and how quickly you dropped the weight would be helpful to know - that's 40% of your body, pretty major stuff.

1 hour of mixed cardio and weights is more than enough for a normal person who isn't still trying to drop 100 lbs. But it will take 4-6 weeks of a new routine to really see it.

[OzzofAsura]

I'm having a hard time understanding... You are 6 feet tall and weigh 150 pounds and you say you are a "blob"? I dunno if you used the wrong word? or are being too critical of yourself?

You said you still want to lose fat, but I can't imagine you have much left.

You don't sound like you want to be muscle-bound, more of toning and cutting? Use your bowflex/weights for some high intensity/high repetition weight lifting. Choose a weight you'd be comfortable doing 20-25 reps with in each area of your body and do 2-3 sets.

You don't have to stop doing the cardio completely as it's great for warming up, but I have my doubts about how much fat you have left to lose. Do 15 minutes of low-medium intensity cardio to warm up and get yourself ready, then get with the weights.

After you're done, EAT. ASAP. After you finish working out is when your body is the most receptive to nutrients, especially protein. You don't HAVE to use protein shakes, though if you do, you can try a couple different ones to see if there is one you can tolerate. They are usually overly sweet to cover that protein taste, though some are more mild than others. You can also take in some lean meats as you said, but remember fish contains mercury. In moderation fish is great for you, but mix it up with grillled chicken, low fat peanut butter, low fat yogurt, lean red meat (but less often), lean turkey, etc.

You can also do some low-intensity cardio for about 5 minutes to cool down when you're done.

Once again, you don't sound like you need to be losing any more weight, but if you want to put on muscle you're going to be needing to feed those muscles.

[Jicent]

I'm having a hard time understanding... You are 6 feet tall and weigh 150 pounds and you say you are a "blob"? I dunno if you used the wrong word? or are being too critical of yourself?

I think he might be talking about his loose skin due to losing over 100 pounds.To OP since you say you have no muscle at all some of that loose skin will go away around the arms and legs but the skin around your core is alot harder to lose. depending on how bad it is the only thing that will correct it is probably cosmetic surgery

[Tyche]

<--- 6'0 and 125. Lose some weight, fatass...

Joking aside, cardio doesn't have to be intense. I may do two intense workouts a week. I prefer slow and steady, but my goals are quite different that yours.

[Ensam]

I think he might be talking about his loose skin due to losing over 100 pounds.To OP since you say you have no muscle at all some of that loose skin will go away around the arms and legs but the skin around your core is alot harder to lose. depending on how bad it is the only thing that will correct it is probably cosmetic surgery

Yeah, you might want to look at getting a tummy tuck if you have the $$$.

It's not like lipo, which is basically "paying to get rid of fat instead of working out"

You can't really do much about skin besides get it surgically removed.

[Mizango]

Tyche you don't count. Its a wonder you can even finish your races considering all it would take is a stiff breeze and off you'd go.

[Jak]

Thank you guys for the comments.

For some answers to some questions asked, I'm 25 and I've been losing weight since I was 18.

As for me saying my body is one big "blob" I mainly mean like.. between my waist and neck. And my blob I mean.. well it's like when I stand up it's all fine and dandy and doesn't look bad at all, in fact I can see some definition in my stomach but when I sit down or bend over it's like one.. big.. well.. blob. >_> I don't know how else to put it. It's just a bunch of skin with subcaceous(spelt wrong) fat.. the pinchable kind. I really think a lot of it is just stubborn fat since I know it's not all skin (hence why I want to lose fat but not more weight..).

And yes, I'm very hard on myself. After being called the "fat" kid and "fatass" and "big boobs" and going through high school wearing jackets in the summer just to avoid people seeing my fat.. I have had 0 self esteem and even now.. people call me anorexic yet I feel like I'm as fat as I was in high school.

(Boohoo story over) Thank you so much thus far, if anyone has anymore tips or anything I'm loving it. I'm very intently listening, reading, and researching everything I can because I'm ready for change! (And I plan on changing unlike some high up officials who want change...)


Edit: Oh and I don't know what a "Y" is and no doctor near me has any expertise in weight/muscle management.

[Tyche]

YMCA fool. it's my second home.

[Vandole]

Thank you guys for the comments.

For some answers to some questions asked, I'm 25 and I've been losing weight since I was 18.

As for me saying my body is one big "blob" I mainly mean like.. between my waist and neck. And my blob I mean.. well it's like when I stand up it's all fine and dandy and doesn't look bad at all, in fact I can see some definition in my stomach but when I sit down or bend over it's like one.. big.. well.. blob. >_> I don't know how else to put it. It's just a bunch of skin with subcaceous(spelt wrong) fat.. the pinchable kind. I really think a lot of it is just stubborn fat since I know it's not all skin (hence why I want to lose fat but not more weight..).

And yes, I'm very hard on myself. After being called the "fat" kid and "fatass" and "big boobs" and going through high school wearing jackets in the summer just to avoid people seeing my fat.. I have had 0 self esteem and even now.. people call me anorexic yet I feel like I'm as fat as I was in high school.

(Boohoo story over) Thank you so much thus far, if anyone has anymore tips or anything I'm loving it. I'm very intently listening, reading, and researching everything I can because I'm ready for change! (And I plan on changing unlike some high up officials who want change...)


Edit: Oh and I don't know what a "Y" is and no doctor near me has any expertise in weight/muscle management.

You may have what i had for a while when i lost alot of weight.

Body dysmorphic disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

just look into it, it could help you feel better about yourself.

[Caiyuo]

Take this all with a grain of salt, but I'll just throw some things out there and hopefully the community can confirm or deny:

You'll need to be eating more than you're probably used to after dropping all that weight because your body needs alternative fuel sources to actually allow you to work and strengthen your muscles without using up the protein inside of them as your fuel. If you aren't eating with this in mind, you may end up spinning your wheels. Ideally foods low on the glycemic index as your source of carbs as well as trying not to drink your calories. Generally the only calories I allow are beers or "a soda" on the weekend and occasionally using milk with protein shakes, but that's up to you.

If you're looking to put on muscle, but don't want to put on fat in the process, I think your best bet would be looking into "High-Intensity Interval Training" post-workout or on your off days. Everything I've read on H.I.I.T. has shown it so far to be the best option for burning actual fat while avoiding the muscle atrophy that typically comes with most forms of cardio. You'll likely need to work your way up to the common plans you'll see as you're likely to find something to the tune of a solid 15 minutes of cardio hell. Lots of information on it available, though, so you'll have no trouble finding more details with google.

Outside of that, do whatever cardio you plan on doing after your work-outs or on your off-days. For actual exercises you can stick with the big, well-known exercises such as bench press, squats and deadlifts for overall strength initially. I'm not sure what of this is available to you given not being able to go to the gym, just throwing it out there.

Lastly, for your protein needs depending on whether you want to use Whey, Casein or both. Casein's generally used to prevent muscle atrophy as it's processed by the body much slower. An example would be while you sleep, a Casein protein shake can keep your body from snacking on the protein stored in your muscles for fuel. Whey is absorbed much quicker, which as you can see has ups and downs.

I personally prefer this brand among everything I've tried as very affordable, well-reviewed for quality and actually tasting "good" as opposed to tolerable: Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein | Optimum Nutrition Protein Shake

I use this line and have so far tried Vanilla Ice Cream and Double Rich Chocolate and am totally satisfied taking it with mixed with either water or milk: Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein | Optimum Nutrition Protein Shake

As I said, this is just my opinion and things I've learned, but may very well be totally ass-backwards, so good luck!

[Furtwangler]

I want to avoid sounding gay but take a picture? From the sound of it you're really over-evaluating yourself here

[Abandon]

I want to avoid sounding gay but take a picture? From the sound of it you're really over-evaluating yourself here

Too late.

[Caiyuo]

A note to add if you're serious about a constant expenditure of money on protein; make sure whatever you settle on is something you can take everyday or at the very least after every workout. If getting the entire thing down is a struggle for you and you can foresee having problems being consistent with it, find something else. You don't have to be Rocky and torture yourself and your gag reflex for the sake of machismo. lol

[sephir]

First of all congrats on losing the weight, thats a big achievement!

As far as a workout routine is concerned, Im about your size (5'10 and just under 150 lbs) and what I've found is this it's very difficult to add muscle to where there was nothing before. For me, I don't want to get large, I much prefer to make what I have more efficient. I think this might work for you as it will make you less bony, but won't make you 'huge'. This is one of the routines I've found that has let me maintain my current weight but increase my muscle mass

20 Minutes intense Cardio 5 times a week. (personally I love cycling, when the weather is good I do 50-80km in addition to my cardio workout)
20 minutes weight room pushing larger muscle groups especially. 3-4x per week
20 minutes slower cardio (rowing machine is great for this) 4-5x per week

I usually follow this with a banana and some fruit juice or a bowl of healthy cereal (Cheerio's and Special K are good) and milk. I personally prefer not to use powders as often they simply add water to muscles which will make you larger quicker, but once you stop working out it disappears extremely quickly. Since you are no longer looking to LOSE weight it is important to eat after working out as it will allow for your body to recover quicker and built muscle, but it is important to watch exactly WHAT you eat.

[tyven]

p90x

[Tsuko_Asura]

You may have what i had for a while when i lost alot of weight

wat

[RakEx]

p90x

This is the answer to most of your questions. Stick to 15-20minutes of cardio. You actually dont even have to do cardio with P90x as it is very good cardio if you do it at a decent pace.

I) Nothing wrong with sitting around after you workout. Just make sure you eat enough. Meat,Potatoes,Rice,Chicken a healthy vegetable.. those type of things.

II) Like i said above. I would recommend only 15-20 minutes of cardio.

III) P90x. Done.

IV) This is the only protein shake if have taken for an extended time period. I like it. It did the trick but its expensive. Tasty though.
Eas Myoplex Deluxe Van - 36 Pack by EAS at DPS Nutrition - The Nation's leader in Discount Nutrition

Just noticed you mentioned you want to be able to run marathons at some point. I still recommend only 15minutes for a month or two so you can build some muscle but after that you can/should get back up to your normal routine.

[Tyche]

It's impossible to embarrass yourself at a marathon. No where else are males wearing shorts that are short enough to be mistaken for a wide belt, women take shits on the off-beaten path in the bushes because the line is too long for the potties, and 250lb men jog 26 miles with their shirts off. Finishing it is the easy part, you usually have 6+ hours to do it. Setting a goal and hitting it can be challenging. I'm running one in Indianapolis on Saturday. Hope to finish in around 3 hours.

[Nystul]

I think the OP has more pressing mental issues than physical ones tbh. I'm not saying he's fucked in the head but now that he's lost his weight, he needs to focus less on starving himself to lose weight and focus more on being healthy.

It is important to say this: You can be skinny and in poor physical health. You can be skinny and have many of the same risks that a heavy person has (such as heart disease) because you're fat "on the inside." So I would strongly suggest the OP focuses on eating well (not less, not to lose weight, but eating WELL- 2000 cal/day low fats, high fiber/protein, etc). Worry less about the number on the scale and more about building strength, lowering resting HR, getting your cholesterol numbers to the heart protective levels etc.