so true.

it is the lifestyle that you must get into to stay slim. the best workout system is not something that requires a car to drive to the gym, it's something that you can do at home, on your own schedule.

people may laugh, but i bought a bowflex on ebay from a fat guy about a year ago, and it is quiet and i watch letterman's monologue every night while using it (about 15-17 mins).

and i am 57 and have the flat hard belly of a 25 yr old swimmer (and i have a 21 year old wife (2nd wife).

good luck.

just get on (any) reasonable program that YOU can do consistently.

exactly correct.

and do not try to lose more than 1-2 lbs/week, otherwise you will put your metabolism into starvation mode and you will end up binge eating or sugar cravings (like eating a half gallon of edy's ice cream at one sitting).

you must phase into it.

get your bmi online. assess your activity level and caloric needs using an online guide, and do about 85% of your caloric needs and add in exercise.

get a vegetable steamer for microwaves at walmart, buy fresh veggies and steam everything (filling, low calories, lots of fiber, very healthy)

and you will loss weight and firm up.

try to eat raw or fresh foods as much as possible, avoid eating any processed foods, baked goods, anything that comes in a box, red meat, sugars, etc.

no fast food except maybe subway.

and take your vitamins everyday, vitamin C, E, fish oil tablet, calcium, zinc if you want to shoot big loads, grape seed extract, and multi-vitamin.

good luck.

Lots of good and yet still healthy recipes for all sorts of food (even steak!) on ediets.com

I pump silver at least 3 times a day.

I also do phone curls, where I pick up the phone to order pizza. At least 3 workouts per week.

Cardio consists of running to the pantry or fridge to grab something else to munch on.

Circuit training is when I go back and forth between the doritos and the cheetos.

It hasn't been easy sticking with a rigorous program like this, but I have beaucoup discipline.

J$, I started this 4 years ago and lost 25 pounds, my partner Herve did it this year and lost over 35. it's not a diet, more an explanation on how ur body works.
I associated it with cross training or swiming 4-5 times a week for an hour.

working out is for girls

I have recently taken up swimming laps bro and it is a great workout. Also, started Muay Thai boxing and it is a kickass workout. Highly recommended. The swimming is good to mix in, when you don't feel like running.

As far as diet goes, I've been trying to watch how many complex carbs I take in and trying my best not to eat after 7pm. Lots of water!

I've lost a good 7-8lbs since this Monday... today is only Thursday. I started with extra water-weight I suppose, but either way - I weigh less than I did on Monday and my pants fit much better.

Diet = Lots of water (I drink iced tea a lot too... which aside from the caffeine is okay), incorporate more fresh fruits/vegetables (as mentioned above), and eat smaller portions throughout the day (instead of 3 helpings, have 3/4ths of a single helping of something.

Do not overeat... and in my opinion - walking away full is bad. Walk away when you know that "if I finish that, I'll be stuffed"...... so instead of being full - you'll be satisfied.

Keep in mind - it takes your body a few minutes to tell your mind that you are full!

Add exercise (walking, jump-rope (great), and even cut the grass yourself instead of having your kid or next door neighbor do it! Lots of cardio/abdominal work... nothing better than a hard core!

If you want to add muscle (all around) and tone up... circuit train.... if you want huge muscles, eat a lot of fiber/protein and do some freeweight lifting!

You do look sexy rex! :winkwink:

The one thing I have to do is figure out WHEN exactly my "cut off time" is - I'm up until 3am+ everynight so I guess maybe the cutoff is 11pm or midnight?

You don't have to cut off all foods until just before bedtime. It's more important how much and what what you eat in the later part of the day. Eat your larger meals for breakfast and lunch and less later at night. If you eat lean meats, fibrous carbs like green veggies and a small amount of healthy fats like nuts or flax seed oil late in the day you will be fine. It's when you eat excess carbs or sugar, bad fats or starches before bed that you will run into problems.

Thanks Jim!

www.crossfit.com

check out h.i.i.t if you are into losing weight.

Burn 500 more calories that you eat per day and you should loose an average of 1 pound per week.

www.fitday.com if you want to monitor your caloric intake for free online.

This is very true. Who can be assed getting up in the middle of winter at 7am to go to the gym before work? Is your gym even OPEN when you finish work? (ok ok, I run an office, most here probably work from home) It's so much easier to have a small gym at home to use. I like to exercise at 10-11pm at night. I've just got a basic bench/barbell system and an exercise bike. The bike is great for watching tv on. You start while watching your favourite show and by the time it's finished you've done you 30 or 60 minutes of cardio. Too frigging easy. No waiting for someone to get off a machine.. no monthly membership fee... no getting shamed by some adonis or hot chick while you're 50lb overweight ;)..
I'm also THIS close to getting a walking machine just so I don't have to run the gauntlet of drunks on my usual walking route at 10pm when they start filing out of the pubs. I already don't take my wallet and wedding ring just in case.

Good advice.

Hmm.... Well, muscle burns calories even when resting... This is because the extra LIVING mass has to grow and divide... you know... do the normal shit cells do and that burns calories...

So adding extra muscle will make staying slim easier... To keep and grow the muscle I would suggest a protein drink I used to get at GNC... It is a fruit flavored drink with protein added. I would drink it about 20 minutes before working out. Most of the calories in the drink are from protein... Basically it stops you from having a protein deficiency... that'd make your muscles eat themselves or slow down their growth because there are no building blocks left...

A typical week would be:
Mon: Back
Tue: Legs
Wed: Rest
Thur: Chest/Biceps
Fri: Shoulders/Traps/Triceps
Sat: Just do cardio.
Sun: Rest

After each work out do 40 to 60 minutes cardio...

Diet... White Rice/Chicken, chicken salad, fruits/veggies, fish... Basically eat a full and healthy diet but watch a few reruns of surviver and see how much food you really need to eat...

So take pizza for instance... You really only need about 1/2 a slice to live... Are you eating 3? 4? 5? plus wings, cheesy bread, etc? Are you drinking coke? beer? etc?

You only need 1800 calories in a day... but you can live much better on 1400 and studies have shown that eating far less calories can leave you less likely to get cancer, heart disease, etc...

1800 Calories? Shit I have most of that in my morning protein shake.

If you are looking to get bigger, that is a good idea... Also if you lead an active life.

Yeah. I was 245 pounds 26% bodyfat on January 1st 2006. I got as low as 175 pounds and 13% body fat before I started packing on muscle. Now I'm 195 pounds and 14% body fat, or so. I'll continue to bulk for the rest of the year and go back to cutting for November and December. Should get me to my goal of 210 pounds 12% bodyfat.

The ABSOLUTE best way to improve your lifestyle and maximize your gym time effeciency is to get a personal trainer.

It's all good for people to give you diet information, and tell you to go the gym and what not, but it's all very vague. A good personal trainer will show you HOW to work out, which is very important, as well as motivate you and help you with your diet. If you can afford it, it's the way to go.

I don't know that I agree with this. If you refuse to go to a gym, this is better than nothing. However, going to a gym has it's advantages.

I make my gym time a time out during the day, where it's just me time. I always reserve the same time each day for the gym and I always go. For the hour that you're there working out, I think the quality of the work out is much better.

Doing the bowflex benchpress is never going to have the same results as doing, for example, dumbells or barbell press flat and incline follow up with supersets of flat, inclinde and decline on a hammer strength machine and finishing the chest off with pumping sets on the peck deck.

I guess it all depends on your goals.

If you want to gain muscle you shouldn't run a lot or do cycling as you can lost your weight. For gaining muscles you should do less intensive work and eat less fat foot but more proteins: meat, fish, etc.

Feel free to contact me about eating raw in this city. It saved my life. :2 cents:

greg at gregoryblack dot com

Thanks J$tyle$ :pimp