Vintovka said:
Just getting started with lifting and want to know if I should do things differently if I'm starting out at least 50 lbs overweight.
Mostly, no. You want to do the same things. Why? If you try to lose weight by cutting calories & walking/running yourself to death, you will (a) make yourself feel deprived; (b) associate diet & exercise with punishment; (c) run the risk of lowering your metabolism, especially in the long run; and (d) take longer to achieve the same results.
You will (take it from me who has been there, done that) achieve better results if you immediately go into an intensive lifting program (see WBA's "Idiot's Guide" in progress), supplementing with cardio & a clean diet. More on that last part below. Lifting heavy makes the diet & cardio stuff easier for big guys like you & me.
Vintovka said:
Do I really need to eat 3500-4000 kclas a day?
Probably not. What matters for you is not the number of calories you take in, but what those calories consist of. Never, ever, ever eat less than 1600 kcals/day (as I see from other threads you've done before). That's just asking for trouble.
To clean up your diet, you need to:
- Eat a solid breakfast. This gets your metabolism going in the morning. Oatmeal or oat bran (your preference) is a good option. Consider cardio beforehand on an empty stomach.
- Focus on lean sources of protein for most meals.
- Eat a greater number of smaller meals. For example, a 6 oz. chicken breast might be your entire dinner. But you'll eat 4 or 5 more times before that, and maybe once afterwards.
- Get your carbs from whole grains, veggies, and to a lesser extent, fibrous fruits. Avoid sugar, simple starches (white bread, pasta, potatoes), and fruit juices whenever possible. EXCEPT right after you lift (juice & some sort of protein that absorbs quickly).
- Set a carb cutoff. If you crash at midnight, no carbs after 7 or 8 pm. Find a rule you can live with.
- Don't worry about fat intake for now, you need some to be healthy and your body will be looking for energy sources when you take away simple carbs. Stick to lean protein sources & fat intake will take care of itself.
- Allow yourself to cheat at least twice a week. Again, you will otherwise associate this exercise & dieting thing with deprivation. Human pyschology, no way around it.
- Find what works for you. There's lots of advice floating around, take it all with a grain of salt.
Vintovka said:
I've just started playing around with some dumbbells, doing curls, rows, military presses and some lunges every other day. I've been walking 2.5 miles a day in the evenings for the past few months as well.
As long as you just play around, lifting weights will gain you little. Get serious or let it go. It's that simple. Figure out the correct form for bench press, deadlifts, and squats, then start lifting heavy, and you could transform dramatically in 6-12 months, especially if you throw out the scale & don't look in a full length mirror for a while. It's up to you.
You've said in previous threads that you were restricting your kcals to 1500, and now you're wondering if 3500-4000 is too much? Find a happy medium. Try 3000-2500/day. Also, if you're 50 lbs. or more overweight, look for cardio that's relatively easy on the knees, like elliptical trainers. Your knees will thank you.
MOST of WBA's Idiot's guide applies to you. You could afford to go a little light on the calories, but I'd suggest you lift heavy & put some muscle on, which will make everything easier. Why? Weightlifting will give you positive rewards rather than a feeling of deprivation. And you can't gain muscle on 1500kcal/day, probably not even 2000kcal.
