So I’ve been doing my research on this reddit and on leangains.com and I think I’ve got a cursory understanding of what I need to do. However, I thought I would distill down what I’ve ready and the action plan I’ve formed and solicit any feedback you all might be willing to provide.
Background: I am M/38/200lbs - At my worst, I was measured to be 43% body fat by a Bodpod. I’m in better shape now, but I haven’t been re-measured and based on a number of factors, I’d guess I’m still in the 30% range. I travel for a living doing sales and am often required to eat in restaurants and frequently stay in hotels with sometimes very limited facilities. Any advice from people in a similar situation would be very welcomed.
Diet: I’ve adopted intermittent fasting as a lifestyle and I’ve been working on this for the better part of a month. It seems pretty easy and I’m trying to stay as close to a 2000-2200 calorie diet as I can. My estimated TDEE is 3000, but obviously the calculator will get better with more time. As for foods, I try and stick to chicken, fish and an occasional day of red meat. Sides typically consist of dark greens (broccoli, asparagus, etc.) and brown rice, quinoa or pinto/black beans. When I don’t have time for a healthy meal, I use a protein shake from Blue Bonnet. I eat from between 12-1 to 8-9.
Exercise: I do about 20-30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week and about 45 min of weightlifting 5 days a week. I do this cardio immediately prior to my weightlifting in the afternoon around 4pm. I have hired a trainer to assist me with my weightlifting and he works out with me 2 days each week.
A sample of a legs day might look like:
Squat 4x12 Single leg lunge. 3x10 each leg Leg extensions 3x12 Box jumps 3x8 50 ab crunches
My trainer changes up the exercises and the days of the week we do what workout, but that’s a pretty typical day. I think doing my cardio/workout in the afternoon might not be ideal and I might have more success if I did some of the cardio in the morning while fasting, but I’m not sure. Maybe I should do my entire workout in the morning while fasting? Two days each week I have to do my workout in the afternoon - no choice based on schedule.
Supplements: I’m taking the following supplements on a daily basis…
In the morning: Multi-Vitamin Calcium 2400mg - I don’t eat/drink a lot of dairy or milk Fish Oil 500 EPA / 250 DHA
Pre-workout: Xtend BCAA + 5g of Creatine Monohydrate
Yohimbine HCl seems interesting, but from what I’ve read, I’m likely still “too fat” to benefit from it, so I’m holding off on that until I can get my BF% into the 10-12 range. Question though, like most guys most of my weighted is centered around my belly. Yohimbine has been shown to help with weightloss in the Belly and Thighs. Since most of my weight is centered there, why wouldn’t it be helpful to target the weightloss in that area?
Anyway, I'd appreciate any feedback on my plan. It's only been about a month and I've started to see some results, but I just want to make sure I optimizing my plan to provide the greatest opportunity for success.
Thanks in advance for any advice.