TimM workout / weight loss thread

[TimM]

I am about 5'10", and hit a peak weight of about 295 lbs. in early 2001. Low carb diets were at their peak of popularity then, and I saw many friends having success with it, so I decided to give it a try. I lost about 40 lbs. in the first two months, and have been doing it on and off since then, reaching a low of about 208 lbs. last summer. I've since regained about 20 lbs. I'm finding it hard to eat well when I go out, and I had a similar problem at lunch time when I was working. If I eat all my meals at home I am fine, I keep the carbs way down and the weight comes off. I'm hoping this thread will motivate me a bit better in this area.

In December I joined Gold's Gym, and they give three free sessions with a trainer. This guy set me up with a brutal routine with 15 workouts (all machines) to be performed 3 sets each in circuits. This would take me about two hours, plus some cardio afterward. I've since divided it in half, and my goal is to do each twice a week. Current weights:

Monday/Thursday:

Cardio/warmup: 5 Minutes
Squat machine: 120 x 12 x 3
Quad Extension: 95 x 12 x 3
Hamstring: 115 x 12 x 3
Back Extension: 270 x 12 x 3
Calf: 210 x 12 x 3
Abs: 100 x 20 x 3
Cardio: 25 Minutes

Tuesday/Friday:

Cardio/warmup: 5 Minutes
Seated Rows: 97.5 x 12 x 3
Lat pulldown: 105 x 12 x 3
Shoulder Press: 95 x 12 x 3
Chest Press: 97.5 x 12 x 3
Bicep Curl: 70 x 10 x 3
Tricep Extension: 70 x 10 x 3
Cardio: 25 Minutes

Eventually I'd like to switch some of these to free weights, but for now I'm sticking to this.

Anything missing? Should I add some exercises and divide it into three different sessions?

Sorry guys, no topless TimM pics!

[TimM]

230 lbs. I need to get serious. I made two changes starting today.

1) http://www.keto.org/summary.htm

I found that if I ate strictly low-carb 'Standard Ketogenic Diet', my workouts would suffer. I was hitting failure in the second set of many of the exercises, and would not be able to complete the third, even though on other days (perhaps when I was less strict with the diet) I could do them all easily. I would also feel a little lightheaded after each and every set.

I am going to switch to the 'Targeted Ketogenic Diet'. I will drink 12oz of Cranberry juice drink (about 50g carbs) about 30 minutes before each workout. I started this today and I think it helped a lot. Monday will be a better test as it will be the more difficult upper body day.

2) http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

I am switching to HIIT for the cardio. I am using a seated bike because of knee problems, but I am roughly following the tables given on that site. Since I am planning to go four times per week, I think I will just increase it by one minute per week. So today I did 4 minutes, next week will be four days of 5 minutes, then four days of six minutes, etc.

[Ponies]

The first thing you should do is stop using machines.

[Thremp]

Tim,

People usually express reps/set. You might get confused cause several people on this board are on a low rep/high intensity/high set kick including myself.

You should probably bail on the ketogenic diet. Unless you wanna do something all the way and know the implications. You will feel horrible on a keto diet.

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.keto.org/summary.htm

I found that if I ate strictly low-carb 'Standard Ketogenic Diet', my workouts would suffer. I was hitting failure in the second set of many of the exercises, and would not be able to complete the third, even though on other days (perhaps when I was less strict with the diet) I could do them all easily. I would also feel a little lightheaded after each and every set.

I am going to switch to the 'Targeted Ketogenic Diet'. I will drink 12oz of Cranberry juice drink (about 50g carbs) about 30 minutes before each workout. I started this today and I think it helped a lot. Monday will be a better test as it will be the more difficult upper body day.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm curious where you came up with the cranberry juice? I did targeted ketogenic diets in the distant past and as I recall the recommendation was always to use Smarties or SweeTarts candy for pre-workout carbs because they're pure dextrose, which apparently gets digested and used very quickly w/o interrupting ketosis. Fructose (as found in fruit juices) and sucrose cause insulin spikes and will screw up your ketosis.

[TimM]

[ QUOTE ]
People usually express reps/set. You might get confused cause several people on this board are on a low rep/high intensity/high set kick including myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, I just used (weight) x (reps/set) x (sets).

[ QUOTE ]
You should probably bail on the ketogenic diet. Unless you wanna do something all the way and know the implications. You will feel horrible on a keto diet.

[/ QUOTE ]

I started with basically just Atkins induction in early 2000, and I've been doing it on and off (a few months on, a few months off). It's a natural for me and the pounds drop off fast when I stick with it. Trouble is I cheat too much, even once a week prevents weight loss for me, I have to control that.

[TimM]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm curious where you came up with the cranberry juice? I did targeted ketogenic diets in the distant past and as I recall the recommendation was always to use Smarties or SweeTarts candy for pre-workout carbs because they're pure dextrose, which apparently gets digested and used very quickly w/o interrupting ketosis. Fructose (as found in fruit juices) and sucrose cause insulin spikes and will screw up your ketosis.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just wanted it to be a drink and picked something I would like. I'll try this for a while and see how it goes. I may buy some ketostix again so I can check.

[TimM]

1 week. 225.5 today. -4.5 lbs.

I can tell a lot of it is water weight by how much I am going to the bathroom, but it's still good.

I've been hitting the gym four times a week. The juice before workouts is helping, and I'm still getting into moderate ketosis as per the ketostix.

I'm taking a few days off to go to Foxwoods Easter weekend, maybe after that I will try to switch off the machines. Right now I'm just working on getting into the habit of going, and just using the machines makes it easier to do that.