http://www.tlbc.ca/blog/index.php/bmr-calculator/

Basically based upon your age, sex, height and level of activity, one can determine the daily caloric intake required to maintain their current weight vs. losing 1 lb/week.

To lose 1 lb/week which is fairly safe, the caloric intake is 500 calories less than the caloric intake to maintain your weight.

e.g. from the above calculator, given that I'm a 6 foot tall male weighing 213 lbs and exercising moderately 4 days/week I need approx 3200 calories/day to maintain my weight and approx 2700 calories/day to lose 1 lb/wk.


use fitday.com, it's a daily journal that allows you to calculate your daily caloric intake.


using the 40/40/20 rule just divide your caloric intake by 10 to get the daily protein and carb requirement and then the fat requirement is about 20 percent that of the protein or fat requirement.

e.g. for me, my daily caloric intake should be 2700 calories, so i should eat 270g of protein, 270g's of carbs and about 54 g's of fat.


cardio is not necessary to shred but it allows you to eat a bit more and is obv. good for endurance. it's all about lifting weights at least 3x/week and watching your caloric intake.


disclaimer, i just thought about the same thing yesterday and was reading all of the above on bodybuilding.com's forums. I'm being more conscious of what I eat now and will try to stay away from high fat foods like donuts, fast foods and fried stuff. It's going to be hard but I want to be shredded by summer and I've never been. wish me luck.

Re: Farting

I really hate it when I have to cut one on the treadmill because there's really no escaping. And the people next to you can be 90% certain it was you. Sweaty and gaseous, that's a great combination.

I was really close to not going last night because, shockingly, my abs and chest were sore. Decided fuck it, went for a run but skipped the post-run exercises. Tonight was supposed to be a complete night off, but I'll probably throw in the push ups and abs to make up for last night.

I really have no advice for weight-loss supplements. The only stuff I've ever taken was some sort of protein powder when I actually thought I could get muscly. I cannot, it seems, so I have no supplement knowledge to drop on you.

oh, and if you really want to shred, cut out the carbs

yeah, I get that sometimes, you just gotta let it go, but I do all in my power not to ever drop ass in the gym. I'll go into the bathroom between sets, squeeze one out, then go back to my work.

also, excellent work on going. I'm totally off my game since I'm off work.
MONDAY

While I appreciate your effort with the other post, I know exactly what to do to lose weight, but I was more looking for some sort of fat burning supplements. Not a magic pill because I know that doesn't exist, but something to help speed up the process a tad in conjunction with my hard work and diet plan. And if you lift weights and do lots of cardio, cutting out carbs isn't an option.

I'd hold it in if I had the choice, but I'm sort of "trapped" on a treadmill and with all the constant bouncing around it's pretty impossible to not fart.


Get your ass back to work next week, son. Bill Parcells would cut you if he heard this shit.

I am definitely not advocating this because I'm afraid of anything that raises your metabolism (increased heart rate, rise in body temperature), but you can still buy ephedrine HCl. Lipo6 is another highly rated fat burner. But like I said be careful with these. The last thing a bigger person needs is an increased heart rate to put more stress on the body. One of the goals of working out is to decrease your resting heart rate.

Cutting out carbs is one of the worst things a person can do if they are exercising. Carbs bind to water so cutting them out does help you lose weight but it's mostly water. You'll put it back on as soon as you start eating them again. Carbs are your bodies source of energy because they break down into glucose and other simple sugars which are the first line of energy that the body uses. It's best to eat most of your carbs for breakfast and lunch then taper off as the day goes on.

oh, definitely won't take ephedra. I am still of the mind to be big and alive as opposed to thin and dead. It's a close race, but alive is still winning


and I would be a Parcells guy

My legs and ass are ****ing hurting today. It's the first time stuff's really hurt on the first day after working out instead of 2 days after. Not sure if that means anything or not. Tomorrow's a cardio day so the pain better be gone by then.

actually, it just means that you slept on your stomach last night.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.


The soreness really should start to go away after three weeks or so. Tiredness, a need to stretch should stay, but that "man, I worked out yesterday and I'm dying today" should go away.

Soon enough I'll be running on these and that makes me happy:






Sidenote: I know people are pretty loyal to the shoes they run in, but ever since I tried Pearl Izumi I haven't run in anything else. They are outstanding.

I told Ricardo to leave me alone when I sleep that bastard.

I just like to complain I guess, it's not completely horrible pain, just hurts when I try to move around. It's nice to know that I'm not just half-assing it, and I really am building some muscles.

Those are cute, do they come in mens?


Edit: I'm just jealous that I could never look good in shoes like that.

Actually, I wasn't too pleased with the red but I didn't have any other options and at this point I'm just concerned about a good, lightweight shoe.

Joining a gym tonight, there's one down the street from my house that has a $10 a month no contract offer going on this week, can't possibly pass that up. I hate exercise, but I guess it's just a question of what do you hate more...

Damn, I pay $16/month and thought I was getting a steal.

Nice life, I pay 60 a month + a whack load for the trainer.

I've been toying with some new running shoes but don't know jack about them. I bought a pair at shoe carnival years ago and ran in them for about 8 months but haven't used them for years until lately. The soles look fine but the interior doesn't have any arch and I don't know or remember if they should, lol. I like the red and have the balls to wear them but doubt that they'd look good.



Adam, I seriously think about you doing this alot and well, I think about you going to the gym as well. I hated and despised the idea of working out my entire life and am amazed I do it and actually enjoy it now. It took me alot of messing with the diet and exercises to get it down and build up some stamina and muscle but I really believe it's how you do it. The BFL program really works great and adds structure and a proven plan to what you are doing along with not making it ridiculously hard. Having great music on the ipod is definate for me as well.

I'm about 2 months in and down 15 lbs. Wife laughed this morning at being able to see my belt in the front of my pants instead of the belly and shirt covering it.

My cardio is currently entirely treadmill. 20 minutes, 4 levels of increasing speed and incline. I hit a new max with the incline 6, and speed 5.5 during the last minutes and it's amazing how much i've increased in such a short time.

This week is Wed-lower body, Fri-upper, Sun-lower

Lower-

Quads

Leg press
12 reps low weight
10 reps adding a little more
8 adding more
6 adding more and maxing out.
12 at the weight I used at 8.
12 leg extensions at same weight.

(Same formula for all weight exercises)

Leg curls, and straight leg lifts.

Calf on the press machine and then doing angled calf lifts on the stairs with weights.

Abs- I am currently working on an ab routine that includes, lifts on a hyper extension bench,
crunchs on the same bench, crunches on the floor and repeating 3 times.

The Pearl Izumis I've had are definitely for runners who don't care about having a lot of support. It's basically like running in a sock with a sole. Also, mine have pretty much no arch.

They're pretty hard to track down in stores. I found them in a store in Colorado and have ordered them online since.

For the second night in a row I said fuck it and decided to run again. Did a quick two miles (13:45) and then did 100 push ups/100 abs (my stomach is sort of sore).

Then I drank beer because, again, fuck it.

Heh, I'd love to get to a point where I could lose 15 pounds and have someone notice, I dropped 20 over the past month and a half and no one said a thing...LOL.

I think the fact that I have a couple buddies who go to that gym 3-4 times per week will help a lot with motivation, and having the iPod now, I agree will help a lot. The last time I had a gym membership no one had even heard of Mp3's, it's probably been about 8-10 years.

Gotta do it, and I think I'm starting to want to do it. The hard part for me is wanting to do it in Week 2, Week 6, etc, getting to the point where it's just a normal thing.

It's nice that you think about me going to the gym Rando, but I don't want to hear the shower fantasy. You can keep that one locked away. <grin>

Finally got back to the gym last night. Did 15 minutes on the bike (should I be tracking distance on the bike?) and then ran 1.25 miles in 15 minutes. Followed that up with some stretching and ab work.

man I absolutely guarantee, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if I didn't drink at all, I could be at the weight I wanted to be really, really easily. but FUCK ALL THAT. the whole point of losing weight and getting a good body is to be able to go out, look good, and get chicks. if I stopped drinking then what's the point?

oh, and health or something. whatever.


I really wish there were an easier way to make sure you did it, but really the only advice I can give you is to just force yourself to go every single time. you have to make it into a schedule such that if you do miss a workout, you feel worse than you would if you had done one. if I miss a workout, seriously, my whole day is shot.

Yep, beer is pretty much my only obstacle to being an Adonis (I wish that were true). But a life without beer is a life I don't want to live, so whatever.




Yep, again. Just force yourself to keep doing it for a while and, as hard as it is to believe, you'll actually start wanting to go voluntarily. I've reached a point where I end up doing something on days I intend to take off just because I feel lazy otherwise. Not Sunday, though, I don't work out on Sundays and I sure as shit don't fucking roll.

Regarding running shoes, I've had small problems with foot pain in the past, so I actually went to a local running store (sell running shoes, clothes, accessories) and they watched me walk, checked the area of wear and tear on my old shoes, and suggested a pair with proper support. They were $120 (oddly, I rarely spend more than $60 on everyday shoes, but splurge on bowling shoes and running shoes), but totally worth it. Super light, super comfortable.

Nice life!



Ha, I'm down like 13 or 14 pounds too, and it's not really noticable, but it will come! I had friends get a membership at my gym a while back too, but then after a couple weeks, you all start wanting to go at different times because you have different schedules and it gets harder, so the only thing I can say here is don't rely on your friends to get you motivated for the gym, you need to do it for yourself not for them. If you all do stick with it together then that's great too obviously!



Just quit for like a couple months, get shredded, then start again. I'm actually surprised at how easy it's been to quit drinking (I was averaging probably a case and a half a week). I'm going to absolutely love the first beer on May 8.

fuck, you've gone completely sideways man

Two summers ago I had a rule for myself that I had to run a mile the next day for every drink I had. It accomplished two things: 1 mile=100 cal burned so it canceled it out, and it forced me to cut back on my drinking since I knew there was a consequence involved.

I did the same lower body workout as two days ago except I doubled my ab workout. I can now see two abs. I'll probably be able to see four in a week or two but the bottom two will never be there.

oh those bottom two are just complete assholes. when I flex I can pretty well see the top two, after I work out I can see the two below that ok, but I'll be god damned if I don't still have a gut hanging over my pants below them. I mean really stomach? really?


fuck it i'm getting surgery. this shit is ridiculous.

mine are like that, no support but light. Looking this morning they are a little worn.




Yeah, first rule is no excuses. Just do it, like nike the greek goddess of lumpy athletic shoes says. My second rule is don't overdo it. I just push it to MY limit. Start low and build up from there. It's a marathon not a sprint. Once I loosen up and get going it's soo much better than when you first start. After a while you will notice and miss it if you don't run or workout that day. I'm w months back on the program and have amazing results already.



Thanks, that sounds like a good plan. I'll find a store and check them out. Suggestions?




LOL at abs. I've never seen/had abs before. abs, hahahaha

The place I went was local, found it through Googling.

I'm pretty much cool with it. Sometimes I'm like, "You know, if I just didn't drink as much beer..." and then I laugh and I laugh.



My routine got interrupted today by a friend in need of a favor so that means I'll have to be running both tomorrow and Sunday. I don't need to express how completely lame that is but, just in case, that is completely lame.

I'm just jealous, once I get in decent shape, I'll be drinking again, I just wanted to quit temporarily to help speed up the process.

I'm curious about how much "easier" it makes it without the drinking. Not curious enough to find out for myself, but still.


The weather here sucks hard, but I still ventured out to the gym and ran 4.16 miles in 30 minutes. Pretty happy with that.

Also, there was a very well endowed and attractive blonde on the mats in front of me doing some exercise on a ball where she basically just laid on her stomach and did back extensions. I'm not sure what the benefit was to her, but it certainly delighted me.

well endowed? She had a big dick?


And it is easier not to drink and lose weight because you don't have all the empty calories, and when drunk, you don't make horrible choices like eating drive thru food or ordering that burger at 2am. Also driving, but that's a different story
It's just a mental thing, at least for me, of just being healthy, not drinking.

I was referring to the chesticles but now that you mention it, yeah, in my mind she had a huuuuuuge weiner.


Surprisingly, I can curb the unhealthy eating part of being drunk. I'm disciplined enough that I know if I have a bunch of beer and somebody makes the inevitable 2am Taco Bell trip that I should probably hold off. Seems pretty insignificant after 15 beers, but I've avoided a lot of calories over the years by abstaining from late night junk-eating. Not always easy to do, but I've been pretty good at it.

Yeah those are the biggest problems for me, as well as feeling like crap the next day and not wanting to do anything.

I have a buddy in town that I haven't seen for a while, so I'm going out for ONE beer tonight.

I scoff at that idea, but good luck anyway.

Nope

but good luck

sounds like a good time. I went out for one beer on st patricks day. bout 12:30 I was 10 deep plus 2 tequila shots. work was fun the next day.

I'm home, only had one pint. It tasted like liquid gold!

I've stopped going out for "one beer". It's a myth as far as I'm concerned. I go out for "some drinks" or "a few" and I can actually follow through on those promises. Also, I've had more than my share of "one more"'s.

But kudos, Troy, on the single pint.

Nothing like getting in a fight with an ex to motivate you to go workout. The fight was last night and I was still pissed this morning so I got up and lifted for two hours. I was so worn out at the end that I felt better. I may try to get a run in tonight if I can fit it in between studying for my test. I usually take Sunday off but I skipped yesterday so I'm glad I got a good workout in this morning.

today was so damn nice outside I decided to hell with laying on the couch all day (my usual sunday tradition) and went outside with my basketball and shot a few rounds. then I went to my shed (the door of which opened PERFECTLY thankyouverymuch) and got out my bike that hasn't been rode in probably 8 years or more, pumped up the tires, and road it around my yard a bunch of times, trying to remember how to do it. it was pretty cool. think I need to find some trails around here and get back into mountain biking. I used to love it.

You know whats even better cardio? Humping a stranger

back on the grind tomorrow.

Alarm is set for 5am. I'm shooting for a hard workout with cardio and lifting before work, then just some cardio and abs after work. That's my goal for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I just intend to go before work.

This is my goal, lets see how it works out.

Friday night I logged the miles for the bike. I did five miles in 15 minutes on level 6 for 7 minutes and level 7 for 8 minutes. Then I ran for 1.25 miles in 15 mins. I went out for a beer on friday and ended up getting TRASHED (i have no self control). Actually we closed the bar down playing pool and drinking pale ale. So, I didn't even want to think about working out on Saturday. I did talk to my friend while drinking and he said the best way to increase running distance is to just start out on a low level and run for as long as you can.

So Sunday I swam 20 laps in the pool and then ran on the treadmill at 4 mph for 20 minutes. I will try to keep going on this until I can get in 30 mins at 4 mph and then just try to increase the speed. Had a protein shake this morning and will be back at the gym tonight.

I'm always amazed at people that can wake up to workout before work. I workout after work cause I'm just not a morning person.

that's control. dunno if I can have just one. once i get going............ it's like having just one chip.

Yeah to be honest I was a bit nervous going to the bar, but I just milked my beer for as long as I could, and my friends were kind enough not to pressure me into having more, as soon as that one was done I told them I had to go home and they were cool with that.

It's funny, for some reason before I started working out, I was thinking once I got going and got stronger it would be easier, and all those buff guys at the gym have no problem with it, and then today as I was lying face down on the mats and not able to get up (help I've fallen and I can't get up), I realized it doesn't matter how strong I get, each workout's going to be tough. Anyway, was a hard painful workout, feels good to be done!

I've been slacking on cardio since I started training, so I'm going to try and get some solid cardio happening every day this week on top of my workouts.

don't be too impressed. Went to bed at 1am, slept like shit, turned the alarm off.


To start 2006, I worked out 4-5 days a week at 5am, for 4 months. Haven't been able to get that back since. I'm a pm guy as well. My body is more loose