New here and thirsty for knowledge!

[Wilkinsg]

Greeting everyone, my name is Gene. I am 25 years old and from Colorado. At any rate, what brought me to this forum was the need for a more concrete approach to how I can acheive my fitness goals.Here is an overview of my fitness life. I will start from the beginning:

-At age 15 I was about 230 pounds, 5 foot 6 inches and kind of a slob!
-Joining the wrestling team gave me a great start in my body transformation.
-By age 17 I was 155 pounds and had grown (my final height) to 5 foot 7 inches. I had a good deal of strength for my weight too.
-After high school and up until age 23 ( I think) I had balooned to a whopping 305 pounds. I knew it was time to change.
-Initially I went down to 275 pounds with a Gazelle cardio machine (you can laugh but it worked for the time being ) and the slim fast plan.
-I stayed there up until September of 2005.
-From september 2005 to beginning of March I cut down to 211 pounds.
-I used a very strict diet (probably around 1200 calories daily and virtually no fat in my food) and did cardio and lifting everyday. Not the best approach but it got results.
-Towards the end of February I noticed my strength was reducing. I had to constantly reduce weight on my reps.
-During the month of March I took a break. I drank a lot and ate alot. Bottom line, I went back up to 225 pounds.
-At that point I finally went back to the gym and on my first day back I read an article in Muscle and Fitness magazine outlining a 10 week program to cut weight and build muscle. Basically I am ingesting a ton of protein, staying low on fat in my diet, and doing cardio and weights. If anyone read that article in M&F magazine please give me your thoughts.

Welcome. Seems like you have done a great deal of work on your body the past few years. Its good to get to know it. Haven't read the article but I'm sure it should help you reach your goals.

[Lady C]

The way to be successful in your transformation is to be consistant. Once you have reached your target your lifestyle should have changed or you will end up where you were before.

Did you read this?

[cursor]

Welcome to DiscussFitness.com, Wilkinsg.

While you have achieved results over these past 10 years, I think it's clear to you that (as Lady C suggests) consistency will promise more satisfactory and sustainable results.

You don't have to starve yourself, or eat after some lopsided nutritional format to enjoy quality health. Tell us about (in detail, if you would) the Muscle & Fitness 10 week program. If you have a web link, that would be handy.

[50&hot]

I agree that consistency is the key. Now to get consistent! Cursor and Lady C, I admire you!

-Anya

[Wilkinsg]

I cannot find a URL for it, but basically you consume 6 meals a day. There 2 kinds of eating days. I will elaborate

"Lean" days (monday-thursday, sunday):
meal 1: 10 egg whites, 1 slice low/free fat cheese, 1 cup oatmeal (dry measure)
meal 2: 8 oz chicken breast, 1 cup green beans
meal 3: 2 scoops whey protein with water
meal 4: large salad with 7 oz of turkey and fat free dressing
meal 5: 2 scoops whey protein with water
meal 6: 2 scoops whey protein with water, 2 slices whole wheat toast with 1 teaspoon of jam on each.

"GET BIG" days(friday, saturday):
meal 1: 5 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 3 medium pancakes(I use buckwheat though) with low calorie syrup (in moderation).
meal 2: 8 oz chicken breast with large baked potato
meal 3: 7 flavored rice cakes, 2 scoops whey protein with water.
meal 4: whey protein
meal 5: whey protein and a bagel
meal 6: I think is a whey protein shake again

That is what you get to eat, for the workout you have one week of leaning out (high reps, low weight) and 2 consecutive weeks of mass (heavy weights, less reps).

You do cardio everyday except friday and sunday.

You do weights everyday except thursday and sunday.

That's it in a nutshell. I am on week 2 right now and will post what I have lost at week 4. From week 4 to week 10 I will be supplementing with Xenadrine to see if the stuff actually accelerates the weight loss.

[Lady C]

My comments are diet are;
Eat the whole egg. Why? There is less mess and bother. And lots of good nutrients in those yolks.

Not enough veggies (Lean day) eat veggies instead of toast in meal 6. On "get big" days absolutely NO veggies. Eat more veggies. Veggies are a lean mans best friend.

Rice cakes are non-value added, insulin spikers (IMHO). Eat veggies instead.

[Wilkinsg]

bummer, the toast and jam is like the highlight of my whole day

So are the rice cakes.....

So, eat tons of veggies instead of bread and starchy stuff? I don't know if I can l;ast 8 more weeks doing that!!

[Lady C]

It grows on you! I crave different foods now. It is eating all those starchy things that made you put on weight in the first place. Keep those starchy foods before and after the workout. Eat fruit as dessert.