Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A middle-age man plan to lose 50 pounds


Last Saturday I received a telephone call from my cousin asking for advice on getting fit and losing 50 pounds. He's a middle-age man like me and will turn age 52 the end of next April.

Sounding frustrated, he told me he's been training hard and eating healthy for 5 weeks but has gained 3 pounds. I told him that those 3 pounds could be muscle, which is good, and that a better test is how his clothes are fitting. This made he feel better because his clothes are fitting looser.

He then shared his current eating and exercise plan with me; it's a classic example of newbie zeal of doing too many exercises too often, not eating as clean as he thinks he is, and wasting his time taking creatine and protein supplements.

A fitness friend of mine who lost over 40 pounds the past year provided the specific eating plan. I provided the initial exercise plan. What follows are the specific eating and exercise recommendations we made:

Eating Plan

Follow the No-S diet, a very simple eating approach that can be summed up as follows:

No - S (no seconds, sweets or snacks) except (sometimes) on days beginning with S (Saturday and Sunday). A friend of mine followed this simple eating plan and lost 40 pounds in the past year. You can read up about it here: The No-S Diet.

Add an additional strictness to it with by avoiding the forbidden 7 C foods, which I wrote about in my blog here: My seven forbidden C foods

Get rid of the creatine and protein supplements, as they are not necessary.

Plan on a slow and steady weight loss of no more than 2 pounds a week. Weigh yourself the same time each day and record it in a journal.

Maintain a food journal, writing down everything you eat, and then regularly sharing it with someone. This helps create rigorous honesty and over time it will change your behavior. You can maintain this food journal on the internet. Here's one that I've used in the past:
A free food journal website

Exercise Plan

Exercise less but with more intensity because rest and recovery are your friends. Favor compound exercises that work your entire body rather than isolation exercises. Continue using the 10-minute abs workout plan you purchased. Here's a suggested workout:

Monday - Perform a combination exercise of a front squat then overhead press for one repetition using a challenging weight that requires your best effort using good form for 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Rest 2 minutes between sets. Then do the 10-minute abs workout. Wrap up your training with 30 minutes of easy-intensity cardio with a target heart rate training zone of 65 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Wednesday – Perform a superset of the deadlift for 10 repetitions followed by the bench press for 10 repetitions using a challenging weight that requires your best effort using good form. Perform 3 of these supersets resting 2 minutes between supersets. Then do the 10-minute abs workout. Wrap up your training with 20 minutes of medium-intensity cardio with a target heart rate training zone of 75 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Friday – Perform a superset of a maximum effort set pushups followed by a maximum effort set of walking lunges. Perform 3 of these supersets resting 2 minutes between supersets. Then do the 10-minute abs workout. Wrap up your training with 10 minutes of high-intensity cardio with a target heart rate training zone of 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Go for an easy 30-minute outdoor walk on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Rest on Sunday.

Well I haven't heard from my cousin since I sent him a middle-age man plan to lose 50 pounds.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

No comments: