I Lost Another 8 Pounds: Total of 19 Pounds in 3 Weeks

As I said earlier, I had just started going to the gym after a long layoff. My workout is about an hour and a half long – give or take - and consists of 45 minutes cardio and 20-30 minutes strength training.

Cardio

First I start with the stationary cycle for the warm-up and then I slowly increase resistance for a total of 15 minutes. I choose one of the pre-set programs that are available on the bike’s computer. Then I go on to stretching for 15-20 minutes. Immediately following that is the treadmill. This consists of mostly brisk walking with a few bursts of jogging in between lasting for about a minute each – every 5 minutes.  

Weight Room

Here I like to do 2 body parts each time. I do 3 exercises per body part – 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise. The object is to do a different workout each time you go to the gym. You want to sort of surprise your muscles by changing your routine as opposed to doing the same exercises and training the same groups of body parts each time. The main body parts are back muscles, chest, shoulders, stomach, arms (biceps, triceps and forearms) and legs (quadriceps, hamstrings and calves). You’ll notice that because of the time I’ve allotted to weight training I have to really rush through the workout. You don’t want to rest too much between sets and exercises; you want to keep the muscles working.

Diet

I made a few changes to my diet but not huge changes like drastic calorie reduction, meal replacement plans, etc. I am not necessarily eating less now but let’s say I’m eating healthier - keep in mind that the introduction of physical activity to my schedule increases calorie expenditure. Basically I did a mental inventory of what my meals consisted of. I realized I was eating too many bad carbs and often combining bad carbs in meals. Instead of combining 2 or more carbs per meal (rice, potatoes, bread, pasta), I went strictly with 1 carb per meal and added a vegetable.  I also switched white rice to brown rice, chose yams instead of potatoes and included whole grain bread and pasta with meals – no white flour products. I also realized that I was having too many snacks. I switched 2 of my snacks to liquid form. For example after the gym I would take a low calorie protein shake or drink. I know I shouldn’t be eating late night snacks at all, but for now I changed them to consist of only fresh fruit or fruit juice (low in sugar).

So over the last 2 weeks I lost another 8 pounds for a total of 19 pounds so far. From now on it will get increasingly difficult to lose weight at this rate but I must continue in my quest.

By John Tiniakos


Categories: Diet Plan