College diet/workout help?

[flyfisher117]

Looking for some help with this, Ive seen this section so hopefully someone can give me a hand here. Hoping some of you military guys had some secrets that helped you?

I am looking for help on loosing some chest and belly fat. I am about 6' tall and weigh in around 170 lbs. I am not really fat, but I am also not really buff, just out of shape and most all of my fat is on my belly and chest. The past semester I have been going to the gym every morning for about an hour and even though I was burning calories it was not enough to really burn any fat.

I have all but cut soda and other things out of my diet, only time I have it is this time of year when I am studying for finals and trying to stay awake. Ive been working on watching what I eat, but being in college I am eating a lot of sysco food which is not the healthiest but it is all the really comes on my meal plan.

I am just looking for a good solid workout that doesnt require a lot of time, or equipment. This summer when I am at home I wont have access to any workout equipment. One thing that I physically can not do is a push up, I dont know if my elbow is double jointed or what but if I attempt a push up my elbow will "pop" and it hurts. Its not just a discomfort it legitimately hurts when it pops almost like the time my shoulder dislocated then relocated itself. I can do pull ups and I can bench but push ups really make it pop and hurt.

Should I focus on some running or bicycle riding? Any other recomendations? I figure splitting wood this summer will help quite a bit.

Thanks all

 

[mattj]

I dropped about 45 lbs in the past year (225+ to 180 and way stronger)...

The gym stuff is good and vital... Make sure to make most of your time there. And don't do pure cardio.. Get your heart rate up and keep it there doing strength stuff, your heart and lungs don't know the difference, do might as well be getting stronger (having muscles = burning calories for "free").

If you don't have much choice re: what you eat, then you'll have to exercise portion control. I eat probably 1/3 each meal of what I used to. Get from meal to meal with small snacks (a dozen almonds does wonders). Consider protein supplements if you can't get enough from diet and can afford it.

I got a wifi scale to help me keep daily weigh in records (weigh in first thing every morning after taking a piss).. I have found the feedback very, very helpful... Don't know if i would have succeeded without it.

Hope that helps.

 

[oughtsix]

I am 6'1" and used to weigh in at 190 or so, now I'm down to around 175ish. I got there by running a lot and doing basic low or body weight exercises (parallel bar dips are the best thing since sliced bread, IMO). I found that replacing sugary drinks (including milk) with water accomplished 99% of my goal. I really don't eat much differently now than before, but I eat smaller portions with more plants than meat. I snack a lot, in fact, I rarely eat a conventional square meal unless I'm out with friends or something. It's a luxury I can afford right now (I'm a grad student and set my own hours for the most part...), one you may not be able to as easily as I can.

Oh, and sweet potatoes. I don't know if they have them in Idaho, but they're very cheap here. Much more nutritious than a white potato. I take mine with a dab of olive oil and salt and pepper. They fill me up for a long time.

In conclusion, keep working out, eat more plants than meat, and leave the table before you feel full.

 

[flyfisher117]

Would you say bike riding (not just coasting but actually riding and pedalling) would give someone similar results to running?

I have cut a lot of sugary things out of my diet, Cant quite cut milk out I still need my daily class of milk and orange juice each morning, but ill have to try cutting the rest of it out. Water is hard for me I hate water but maybe I can transition from my sweet drinks to water with some MIO water flavor and slowly ween myself off of that.

What kind of portions would you guys recommend, I rarely ever eat a full meal. I usually have a nice breakfast of eggs and yogurt or something similar then after that Its usually snacks throughout the day, sometimes Ill eat a small lunch but I am not a big meal eater. More of a snacker.

I like my trail mix but I should probably stop mixing it 3 parts M&M's to 1 part nuts/fruit and do more fruit/nuts and less M&M's.

Yea we have sweet taters here, Never liked them myself, I dont even really care for normal ones. Hash Browns or a baker on occasion but other than that I dont like them.

 

[D_Lamz]

thank me later
Bodybuilding.com - Steve Cook's Big Man On Campus 12-Week College Trainer

 

[roughneck62]

You will never really change if you cant change your diet. Sounds like you want a magician to come by and make you cut and buff....it takes work, in the kitchen and the gym. Remember exercise is 1 step forward, but a poor diet is 2 steps back.

 

[flyfisher117]

Thanks D_Lamz looks pretty good!

No roughneck I dont want a magician to magically poof me fit and buff. But when you are pulling a 19 credit load each semester trying to major in mechanical engineering its really hard to spend 2-3 hours a day at the gym while maintaining the required grades to stay in the program. It is also harder when you live in a place that requires you to buy a meal plan but most of the meals offered are not that healthy, just your average sysco food. So when it is midnight and I have been studying for 8 hours the only real snacks are not that healthy. Untill I can find a healthier way to get some caffeine in my body I will probably have to drink soda for finals week. I dont drink much but maybe 1 can to give me that extra few hours of studying.

I am just trying to find the best program and the best diet I can that will work with what I have as far as free time, food, and study habits.

 

[yosefnoah]

I would tell you to go with cycling as it is one of the best exercise to do for your body as it will reduce your weight and make your body fit specially legs and butt.

 

[mzvarner]

I am in a similar position (not fat but out of shape) and so I decided to do some research on what to do to get in shape. This may seem common since but here is what I found. Cardio is good for training the body to consume oxygen more efficiently, but doesn't really do anything for fat stores. Muscle will deplete fat so strength training is key. So What I did was go to my local sporting store and pick up 2x 20 and 2x30 lbs dumbells. Here is the circuit I do on mondays, wednesday, and friday.

-20 situps w/ a 5 lb weight
-20 bench press on a ball with 20-30lb dumbells
-20 squat (no weight right now, just getting technique down, but still burns!)
-30 sec flutter kick
-20 chest fly with 10lbs
-20 calf raise with 50 lbs sand bag on back
-5-7 stair climbs (up a flight of stairs about 12 stairs in my house)
-2 minute rest then repeat x5

Some form of cardio on the other days, and a hangboard workout 2x's a day. On the weekends I can either take a rest day or I am out climbing, mtn biking, in the mountains, etc.

Next is diet. I only drink coffee,water, and an occasional sugar free red bull. I will allow myself (occasional) beer after I lose 10lbs. With all the strength training protein become very important. I eat lots of egg whites, chicken breast, turkey, fish, an occasional steak or breakfast sausage. Until I lose the weight I want I have pretty much removed carbs. I have one piece of whole grain toast with a thin cover of reduced fat peanut butter, or use 1 slice to make a turkey sandwich with lots of veggies and hummus instead of mustard,may, etc. Lots of veggies, and minimal fruit. I have some frozen stuff in the fridge in case I feel the urge for something sweet, I can blend up a smoothie real quick to satisfy the urge.The other thing with meals is multiple smaller meals through out the day.

I have been doing this for 1 1/2 - 2 weeks now and already lost 3 lbs. Hope this helps give you an idea good luck!

 

[Deerhunter]

Look into Crossfit, hands down one of the best workouts. If you can get to a crossfit place, look up the exercises and do the circuit training at home.

 

[chughes]

Getting into shape is 75% diet 25% gym time. If you want to lose weight and don't want to eat clean then you are going to be doing cardio like crazy. First, you should find out what your maintenance caloric intake is. Second you should eat less than your maintenance. Doing that alone will make you lose weight. Picking good food will help with hunger pains from eating less than what you are used to (dense food). Stay away from anything like soda pop, gatoraide, poweraide, sweet tea, basically anything with sugar. A lot of people don't realize how many calories they drink. Drink water, and a lot of it.
In the gym i wouldn't even worry about cardio if you are eating correctly. I would focus on just doing high reps and low weight.

 

[FunkBass2008]

I agree with MattJ, having more muscle increases your resting metabolic rate and your ability to burn fat during workouts. Think of it this way too: Say you have 1 unit of muscle and do a 1 hour workout, it looks like this 1 x 60min workout = 60 units burned. But, if you increase your muscle mass to 1.5 units of muscle then the equation goes; 1.5 x 60min = 90 units burned.

I use 'units' arbitrarily, the point being the more muscle you have the more you multiply your fat loss..

 

[flyfisher117]

Thanks guys. I can't find a goos caloric calculator but the quick easy ones are all telling me 3000 calories per day. Seems like a lot but I should be good I have been maintaining 1200-1500. Still haven't had a chance to get to the gym, work load is insane and I just don't have the get up and go to workout at 6 am, sit in class till 3:30 pm do 6 + hours of homework then repeat. Ive cleaned up my diet alot but I still can't cut bread cheese pasta and taters out.
We have 3 meals a day and hey all contain at the very minimum of 2 of those. I have just ad to resort to small portions and getting rid of as much of it as possible.
I'm really bummed out by the end of the summer I was starting to see more definition but now it's all gone and I'm back to wher I started. Guess it helps when I am always working and playing in the summer and only getting 2 really healthy meals a day compared to school here.