I looked at myself in the mirror recently and to be frank didn't like what I saw. At 41 the middle age spread seems to have arrived. I'm pretty sure I can do something about this though if I'm proactive so I want to go on a fitness drive.

I've got my niece's wedding on July 7th and it seems like as good as date as any to aim to get in better shape for.

I want to get fit in all possible ways. Fitness wise Cardiovascular and flexibility are more of a priority than strength but wouldn't say no to building up some muscle mass either. Just want to be generally all round fitter and healthier.

I want to be fairly regimented for this 3 month period - I plan to give up drinking alcohol until the wedding and I'd really like a program/regime to follow both in terms of exercise and diet.

Can anyone recommend a specific program for these 3 months?

Note I'm not expecting miracles but I do want to get into the best possible shape that I can get into within that time frame. As I'm a full time poker player I have plenty of time to put the hours in. Also since I don't live anywhere near a gym I plan to do my exercise program at home. I'd like to keep the equipment that I need to a minimum also, though I am prepared to buy stuff if need be.

I'll leave the advice to the others who know what they're doing but just wanted to say good luck man.

Josh

You want to get into better shape for 3 months, or for the rest of your life?

I'm marrying a BCS on July 7th, that's not your niece by any chance?

Anyway, we need some more information before giving you a course of action:

What is your height, weight, and BF% to your best estimation?
Is your primary concern just looking as good as possible at the wedding, or are you interested in learning habits to keep yourself healthy long-term?

The answers to these questions will greatly alter the advice that I and I think most people here would give.

Cheers Josh.

For the rest of my life. Just setting a date seems like good motivation for me. When those 3 months are up I'm going to have some drinks during the week I go back home to Ireland but when I return to Portugal I plan to continue and improve on my fitness - maybe will set other goals then - a further 3 months or otherwise.


I don't know what a BCS is. (let me guess - Berkeley college sophomore or something like that!) Nice coincidence on the wedding date though. Good luck with the wedding.

My height is 5'10.5", weight is 198 lbs, BF% is 14.2% according to http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

My primary goal is learning habits to keep myself healthy long-term. The wedding date is just really a conveneient date to hopefully achieve some meaningful results. I plan to continue after to maintain and further develop my fitness.

I did Tae Kwon Do for a brief period in my 20s and enjoyed it - life circumstances/partying made me leave it slide but FWIW thought I'd better mention that I wouldn't mind at all bringing some martial arts stuff into a training program bearing in mind that I plan to just workout at home.

Ridiculously inaccurate.

Well I don't know what my bodyfat % is besides too fat. Just used that website as it came up on a Google search.

5' 10.5" and 198 lbs is clearly overweight but I'm quite broad so it's probably not as terrible as it first looks. My waist is about 35", my neck about 17.5". Personally I think I should be about 10 kilos (20 to 25 pounds) lighter. Meanwhile I'll look to see if there is somewhere I can get a more accurate reading of my body fat%.

Edit: Other details from that site

Body Mass Index: 28.1 kg/m2
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.50
Percent Body Fat: 14.2%
Lean Body Mass: 169.8 lb

You are overweight by 10.2 kilograms (22.4 pounds)
You need to exercise at least 30 minutes every day.
Minimum caloric requirements: 2290 Calories per day
Limit your food intake to 1946 calories per day.
to lose 2.5 pounds per month.
Your diet should contain at least 63 grams of protein per day.

That weight loss of 10.2 Kilos corresponds to what I know/feel my body's ideal weight should be at, maybe the rest is inaccurate but that part really seems right.

Edit: According to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/ my bf% is 17.47%

Is it more important for you to look better in 3 months, or to build up a solid base of healthy living ?

I find programs like SS don't offer short term aesthetics as fast as most people would like, but it builds a really good base for you to work on that at a later time.

If you want to look as good as possible in your suit and tie, running a bigger calorie deficit with lots of HIIT to slim down is probably your best bet, as people will notice that more. If you want to to be healthier and stronger, running a small deficit while doing core lifts (squatting deadlifting) is better. You will definitely feel better and more stable in your day to day actions, but people will not generally notice your increased fitness in clothing after only 3 months.

Edit: I'm a big fan of factoring in mentality and psychology in designing a work out plan now, because I feel I was too rigid when introducing a few people to some lifting in the gym and failed miserably. You will likely stick to a healthy lifestyle if people comment on your improved physique, and it is something to consider. If you work out for 3 months and nobody mentions anything, it might be easier to quit. If at 3 months everybody raves about how great you look, you'll feel compelled to continue. Just thought I'd throw that out there since you would know your own personality best.

Firstly thanks for the reply and to other posters who have replied so far as well.

sorry I'm obviously no fitness expert. I'm getting the distinct impression from the questions though that it makes a big difference whether I'm doing this purely for 3 months or the long run. To make it clear I'm doing it for the long run and want to build up a solid base of healthy living and that supersedes my short term goals. Obviously I'd like to look my best in the suit and tie but if this 3 month objective gets in the way of a longer term healthy living /fitness goal then that part of my op can take a back seat.

The short answer is to start a SS style lifting routine (can reference the FAQ to learn about what this means), eat fewer calories to lose weight (shoudl be obv but can read FAQ), eat more protein (FAQ), do some light-medium cardio on non-lift days and worry for the 3 months on not eating too many calories and getting used to the form of the lifts.

Then after 3 months switch into more lift-centric mode, eating more, not worrying about cardio as much and leveraging the form you've learned to make better progress strength-wise.

1. There is no way an untrained individual who is 5' 10" and 198 lbs is 14.2% bodyfat. To give you an idea, I've been lifting regularly for 2+ yrs, am 6ft and 190 lbs, and would consider myself ~14% bodyfat.

2. 14% bodyfat would not be 22.4 lbs overweight. That's ridiculous.


As for lifestyle changes - losing weight occurs more in the kitchen than the gym (not that the gym won't help). For someone who is fairly new to fitness, I'd recommend eating low-carb and avoiding processed foods (so mostly meat and veggies) as by doing this you tend to keep your calories low enough to actually lose weight while hitting your macronutrient needs so you don't avoid losing too much muscle.

For losing weight in the short run I'd actually combine an SS-style strength routine with a mix of tabatas and 10-15 min of burpees/tire slams/sled pulls/stair runs/etc going all out as hard as you can, or something of that nature. You'll be sacrificing strength gains while doing this, but should lose weight more quickly.

Hopefully after 3 months you'll have read enough, and posted enough on message boards to re-evaluate and make a decision on how which direction you'd like to go (lower body weight, increased lean muscle mass, etc).

You did one thing right. Recognize the issue and decide to deal with it. I saw another poster say focus in the kitchen. He's right on point. I've found when the diet is too strict, however, you rebel against it evetually. here are some tips to make it easier:

1) Don't obsess too much over counting calories. Just look at portion size. No seconds and use a smaller plate if possible. Eat fruit and veggies with every meal. And if you must eat pasta and rice, do so for lunch and always have protein with it.

2) Always eat as soon after a workout as possible. Not a whole meal, but a fruit or something.

3) Eat 5 times a day. Not three. By eating smaller meals more frequently your body won't feel the need to store food so much.

4) lastly, with any change in eating habits, comes some unfortunate side effects that many people are afraid to discuss. If the pipes get clogged, eat 4 dried prunes every morning, and that should do the trick.

Good Luck and post your periodic results.

see bolded in quote

Thanks once again for the infos. Not so sure about SS. It seems very weights orientated unless I'm mistaken. There's no gym nearby me and would prefer not to spend loads of money on weights but if it really is the best thing for me to do I will do so. I checked out tabata on amazon.co.uk - first result produced a cheap highly rated book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zen-Martinol...1759343&sr=1-1 .
Anyone know of it?

From what I know about tabata, don't get hung up on trying to do it exactly (if that book even knows what it is exactly), any high-intensity interval training that "kills" you to do will be a big challenge. Also, you may end up putting a lot of stress on your system if you do something like that for 3 months really hard and do SS really hard.

Yes SS is weights oriented. If your goal is to be fit for the rest of your life, I'll assume you want a solid base of strength since it will help prevent injury and help in other areas. If you don't want to actually get stronger, then just concentrate on cardio-oriented things with low resistance stuff I guess.

If your only goal is to lose weight, then you can do that by eating fewer calories. It's as simple as that and the gym and other things aren't necessary. But, I can't imagine that being healthier long term than other options. Getting in a routine you can comply with the rest of your life where you stay active is really a good idea.

Yip I defo want to get stronger. I want the whole package really, cardiovascular, flexibility too. My aim is to be as fit as I can realistically be. If I had to pick a type of sports person to mirror myself on - it would be to get myself in fighting shape - basically a martial artist. Basically to be able to move fast with strength and flexibility.

Apologies for not formulating this in my original post but this thread has posted questions that has narrowed down more to what I really am looking for deep down - some of which I wasn't aware of - so thanks for the questions.

I do still generally want a guide or training program to follow as all the topics I've been reading are a bit of an overload and there seems to be different trains of thought so am a bit confused, particularly on what and when to eat. Some sites and within this thread advocate eating little and often whereas others advocate the regular 3 meals a day. This suggestion seems to make sense to me but I'm not sure http://www.frixo.com/sites/fitness/diet.pdf .I'm sure after a while I can get a better idea of what actually works for me.

www.leangains.com has some very interesting articles.

For the short-term goal I would recommend eating at a calorie deficit and doing mostly High intensity cardio pretty frequently.

For the long terms goal (staying fit, healthy, and building muscle mass) I would suggest following Starting Strength

cheers prodigy - the consensus here seem to be to follow Starting Strength. so maybe a mix of that and the tabata stuff/high intensity as suggested also by riverfish. Looks like I'll have to get myself some weights then if I'm going to follow that.

If your waist is actually only 35", you aren't totally out-of-shape. You better have someone else measure your waist.

PX-90?

grrrrr I hate when someone quotes within a quote, then we get this ^^ !

Anyway, was gonna say you're both kinda right, but not quite.

- CERVEZA69 says "3) Eat 5 times a day. Not three. By eating smaller meals more frequently your body won't feel the need to store food so much.


^^ Bolded part is absolutely correct.

- RIVERFISH1 says "Your body isn't going into starvation mode over the course of a few hours, that takes a couple of days of not eating at all for your body to move to starvation mode. I'd actually recommend eating fewer larger meals, as it's much easier to overeat when you're eating 5 times a day and constantly thinking about food (and having to portion control) than stuffing your face twice a day and going about your life the rest of the time"

Bolded part is correct, altho the rest isn't...imo.

Let me try to explain -


1- Altho it is true that the body will not go into starvation mode over the course of a few days, it is still wise to let your body get used to your new regimen as soon as possible. Therefore, beginning straight away on eating smaller portions of meals more frequently... sends the message to your body immediately...not to store food. Which will (as riverfish mentioned) ...take a few days before your body actually figures that out.

2- Thing is - you should eat smaller portions, yes but they should be split from your main large meal. Example: let's say at noon you're having a tuna salad; well, don't eat the whole salad...eat half and save the other half for later. This way, you eat smaller portions at frequent times with the same meal...(without creating more calories by adding more meals).

3- Definitely set up a "when to eat" time schedule...this way, even tho you're not hungry, when the time comes to eat - you will not only eat slower (which is so important when trying to lose weight) but you will also save the other half of your meal to eat an hour or 2 later (since you're not starving n' can wait a few hours more to eat the rest). Hence getting the benefit of 1 large meal - at 2 different times.


4- Also, one really important suggestion you should all consider is NEVER EAT WHEN HUNGRY!!! I can't begin to express my opinion on this, it's the dumbest and most unhealthiest thing most people do. Same as you shouldn't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, cus then you're just asking for trouble and you're gonna buy all sorts of junk you shouldn't be eating, or even end up munching on a few snacks while in there.

Dont' you notice when you're starving - you wanna eat anything n' everything? That's so so bad...and you should never reach this point!

5- One other thing I should mention - if you're going to begin an exercise program, you need to know that "fat burns fat" therefore you'll have to eat lots of nutritional foods (fibre, protein, carbs...) and lots of it, in order to have enough energy n' fat for your workout program n' to burn that fat away. This tones you and eventually (but it will take more time) you will lose the weight. So ...imo, if you want to simply lose weight - it's prolly best not to start a strenuous workout program, instead do some light exercises.

Good luck! Just remember, whatever works for you might not necessarily work for another n' vice versa!!

I don't know how out of shape you are, but doing SS and doing HIIT-type stuff might be too much to be jumping into right away. You'll likely be too tired from your running days to lift as heavy as you could be while lifting, and your HIIT will suffer in the same vein, though that isn't as big of a concern as the first one.

If you can do it that's great, but it sounds like a easy way to burn out fast either mentally or physically. I'd stick with SS and some low-medium intensity cardio in the beginning, then focus solely on SS when you start moving some heavier weights (diet super important at this point), and when your lifts start to progress less rapidly and your body is less shocked and fatigued to mix in the HIIT. I don't think this is completely optimal physiologically, but it's a bit less stress mentally.

The tabata and HIIT stuff in general is really a killer. I used to run track and those type of workouts definitely had me wanting to die and throw up 20% of the way through, and knowing there's still 80% of it left. It's like the last rep of the last set of your squats, except it lasts like 20 minutes.

Diet plan and then just get out and about. Go for walks, hikes, the longer the better. Play tennis, hit balls at the driving range, Go jogging, ride a bicycle. But don't keep eating and eating and eating.

And after you get to where you want to look for the wedding, have a great time. If you want all of it, THEN start some sort of weight program. Because to gain the levels the power lifters here have, you can't become that lean body you want in 3 months. They all eat at a surplus to gain the muscle, then diet down to lose the excess. You don't have that sort of timeframe now.

Thanks once again for all the helpful advice
I'll get my wife to measure me properly. My jeans are almost all 36" waist but are quiet loose on me - so since 34" is too small and 36" is quite loose - figured I must be abut 35". not that scientific I know but i'll see if I can locate our measuring tape to get a more accurate reading.
P90x - it's a commercial exercise program. http://www.beachbody.com/product/fit...ograms/p90x.do

3 meals a day versus 5... I'm confused now which one is correct . Guess I'll have to just look up more info myself and guess which one to go for.

Losing weight is not an objective for me in its own right - I just want to get fitter - I'd imagine that will entail eventually losing weight but it's more about losing fat rather than losing weight. If I don't lose weight but lose fat then that's an improvement.

Sounds like a plan - cheers bearz
I'm beginning to regret mentioning this 3 month plan. Guess I had that p90x thing still in the back of my mind when I first made this post.
The 3-month thing is only just a convenient window for goal setting - if it gets in the way of my overall fitness please forget about it.

Really long term fitness is my over-riding objective here.

Anyway your suggestions for activities are good except I don't have access to Tennis or Golf where I live in rural Portugal. I do however have wonderful hiking country literally outside my door and walking is the one thing that has prevented me from going even further overweight.

Just to make it clear being a power builder is not a goal for me in itself. Building strength is however a part of my overall goal. I mentioned earlier that if I had to pick a sportsperson type that I want to mirror myself on it would be a martial artist. So obviously someone who is looking purely to be a bodybuilder is looking for a completely different fitness program to say a track runner. I imagine a martial artist would have an exercise/ diet program with elements of both these opposite ends and maybe some fitness stuff unique to martial arts.