SamG's Log

[SamG]

Guys, thanks again for the support and advice. It's extremely motivating. Really.

I'm not nearly as sore today as I thought I'd be. (I'm sore, but not "OMG I can hardly walk" sore.) Not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but I'll definitely be able to hit the gym again tomorrow.

One question about diet:

As I mentioned before, I still have a bit of a gut, and I want to lose some fat. My understanding is that you need to create a caloric deficiency to burn fat. I've also read that you need to eat -- and eat a lot -- to build muscle. So what if you want to do both? I don't know what my calorie targets should be.

Before I started working out, I calculated my caloric need at about 2200 calories. I subtracted 500 from that to lose 1 lb / week, and that was my goal. How does weight training change this picture?

I worked hard to lose the weight... I'm a little paranoid about getting fat again eating 6 meals a day and drinking protein shakes.

Btw, I was combing through the archives this morning and thought this post was really good:

Strength Training

- Sam

Edit - Forgot to mention: I'm pretty sure I miscounted the weight on the bar for my squats, and I was only doing 105. Not a huge difference or anything. Just want to start with an accurate baseline so I can measure my gains.