I'm having trouble

Hi. I'm just wondering something. I am trying to lose weight I've made threads before, I had to halt my diet since I was living a very stressful life working 2 jobs and a lot of issues with my now ex-girlfriend. I am 20 years old and weigh 235 lbs. My job requires me to stand for 7 hours a day. My goal is to be at 175 lbs by April 13 2010 ( my 21st birthday.) Pretty much, I am going to do an 1,800-2,000 calorie a day diet. My real issue comes with exercise. I have time now to go to the gym since I am working only one job now, I can't start till September. I am looking for simple exercises to do and I am available to head to the gym 7 days a week. I want someone to help me map out an exercise program to help maximize the weight I lose. I want to tone my body but I will get to that once I reach 175 lbs. Right now my focus is to lose weight and keep it off, I just want someone to map out an effective weight loss program. Thank you.

First thing you'll need to do is make sure your diet's good.  I'm not an expert on diet but I'm sure someone else will be able to help you out. 

The most efficient way to burn fat is to lift weights and introduce HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

Your weight lifting will need to involve big multi-joint movements (compound exercises).  These include: Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Barbell Rows and Pull/Chin Ups.

Check out a book called: Starting Strength - Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe or you can use the Starting Strength Wiki Site.  The routine is very basic and will allow you to make good progress.  Most importantly it will show you how to perform the exercises with good technique.

Another website with a similar beginners program is Stronglifts.com.  Download the free ebook and see if it's something you'd like to try. 

Im actually doing stronglifts right now and really like the program. I can get in and out of the gym pretty quick and have seen some good gains. Also, since im working more on getting stronger i dont have to fret about cardio as much as other exercise programs (its just punishment for the body.... i swear!)

Howevsies, since you are looking to loose a little weight i would say supplement the program with some cardio and on the of days (you only lift three times a week on these programs) you would do about 20 mins of jogging swimming, even walking at a resonable pace on an incline. Also, last thing, for fat loss keep the cardio workout constant and at a reasonable pace (20 mins at 4.5 - 5.0 on the treadmill) You would burn more calories sprinting but the fat cals burned are going to be more which sounds like what you want. Keep us posted brother!

I agree with the above posters about starting a strength training program of some sort and keeping the cardio to moderate levels a couple of times a week. 

You state that you want to lose the weight first, and then worry about toning, but really it;s so much better to keep the muscle you already have and concentrate on losing the fat.  That means eating a healthy, high protein diet, and losing the fat slowly. 

It also means you have to be working and challenging the muscles you have in order for your body to keep them preferentially over the fat.  If you just diet without working the muscle your body will drop the muscle because it figures it doesn't need it. 

Whether you cardio is constant, or if you do HIIT, is really up to you.  I disagree with Clay about steady state moderate intensity burning more fat.... but it's up to you to choose what you want to do and will enjoy. 

Original Post by clay010:

You would burn more calories sprinting but the fat cals burned are going to be more which sounds like what you want.

This isn't really correct - the lower intensity might burn a higher percentage of calories from fat, but more intense workouts will burn more calories overall as well as a higher number of calories from fat.

The "fat burning zone" as most people use it is a misinterpretation, and is not the most efficient way to lose fat.

I once asked my doctor what the best exercise was, and he told me, "It's the one you will do".  That didn't make much sense to me when I first heard it, but 20 years later I can recognize it as the best advice I ever got.   For me, the exercise I would do turned out to be cycling.  It's a lot easier on the joints, and if you don't fall off, the rate of injury seems to be a lot less than for runners or tennis players.  It's fun to be able to look at the passing scenery, to have the sense of accomplishment by covering real miles, and then to watch yourself easily climb hills you dreaded at first.  Plus, you always have nice breeze as long as you are moving, and you get to carry water with you, and even music or podcasts, if you ride in protected areas.  Look it up, and you'll also see that cycling burns calories at a goodly rate, and I'd bet you'd be willing to cycle a whole lot longer than you'd want to run, walk or swim, and it's total calories that count more than calories per minute.   At your weight, even at your relatively young age, you'd be pounding the hell out of your knees if you ran much, but with a properly fit bike, riding actually helps your knees.  Be good to your knees--you'll need them later on too.

I love lifting weights, but, and this is just one guy's opinion, there are a lot more people in gyms working out incorrectly than are doing themselves good.  Form is everything in weightlifting, whether using machines or free weights, and there is no substitute for having a trainer show you what to do.  And you need to vary the routine as well, and not exercise the same muscle group too frequently.  There are huge benefits to the shape of your body by resistance exercise, but it takes a lot of time, consistency, and education.  

So my advice is to make cardio your first priority.  If it isn't cycling, then walk three miles every day.  Start slowly with a half mile and add a half-mile every fourth time out.  This is going to be a rest of your life thing--no need to rush.  While you're burning calories and building up your heart and lungs, you can do pushups, situps and pull ups.  Start with one pushup, and if you can't, then do it on an ottoman, a bathtub edge, a sink, or even against the wall if you need to.  Do them every day.  You will build to 100 pushups in a few months.  I promise.  Learn how to do a safe and productive situp, and do them too.

Pick a time of day for exercise and stick to it.  My father told me that there is always time for whatever you do first, and for me exercising first thing in the morning always turned out to work best.  Get up earlier if you have to, and go to bed earlier if you need to.  At your age and weight, you're fighting for your life, to stave off heart disease, stroke, type-II diabetes, and going through life being unattractive, mostly to yourself.  It's worth expending a little effort and discipline until it gets to be a habit--and until the results provide all the incentive you need.

Weigh yourself every morning every day.  All the books say not to, but it's great feedback and motivation for me.  You need to have patience, and not get crazy when you get stuck at a plateau, or water balance kicks your weight up one day.  You'll have confidence that as long as you expend more calories than you consume, you must lose weight over time.  A pound a week is plenty.  You have all the time in the world to get where you want to be.  Remember it's not just the pound you lose, it's the pound you didn't put on as well.   The real test is maintaining a healthy weight, and the longer it takes you to get to the weight you want to maintain, the better prepared you'll be to maintain it.  It's never a diet--it's a way of looking at food, respecting your body, and living your life.  It took you a couple of decades to build your current habits; don't expect to learn better ones overnight.

This sounds a lot more preachy than I meant it to, but I'm really just trying to be helpful to you by telling you what I learned along the way.  Maybe it isn't right for you, but the more experiences you hear, the better chance you have of fashioning the right program for yourself.

Good luck!

Look up TT training on the internet and I have the entire workouts and I seen great results with my husband and when I was working it I lost alot of weight and he starting looking sexy also there is the px90  It may take a total of 45minutes and I recommend it to everyone. 

http://www.turbulencetraining.com/index_aff.s html

http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_prog rams/p90x.do?code=MSN_SEMB_PX90&ef_id=190 8:10:5fe51d7f89b9714ae1eac1f6fe 177955_e_250902324_2623855581:SosZg9BbriYAAF@ 3r30AAAdA:20090818211339

I know alot of the military is doing this on their own time, my husband is military and I know they have the program on the base he is at and it really gives great results but you have to work out hard... nothing comes easy but the belly...