ok, let's talk about morning workouts and nutrition.
 

I want to start working out, like tomorrow (this is not a procrastination, it's part of a master plan, which is why I am not starting today).

One of the things I promised myself a month or so ago when I woke up was I was going to start taking better care of myself physically.

At my disposal (in the office) I have access to a BowFlex machine, a treadmill, and an eliptical machine thingy.

I have about an hour in the morning to spend on this commitment.

What I would like advice on, is what should I eat/drink each morning before, during, and after my routine.

Also, anyone with experience on the treadmill or BowFlex, what should I be looking at for just generally toning up and getting in shape?

My goal - To lose at least 10-15 pounds, and replace it with toned muscle. Also need to increase my stamina and longevity.

Thanks all!

My diet, and I'm benching 280 right now after a month off the gym:

Breakfast:
8 egg whites
brown bread

Pre lunch snack:
Protein shake

Lunch:
Chicken wrap

Post workout snack:
Protein shake

Dinner:
Beef stir fry, soy sauce ONLY as flavour
Lots of veggies over rice

Post dinner meal:
Bean soup, black beans, 1/2 can, mixed with little sour cream+salsa

Sounds and looks nasty, but very tasty and healthy!

Pre-bed:
Muscle milk

30 mins of cardio per day, gym 4 days a week


Be ripped in no time, I am in good shape even though I took a month off to party, move, and eat VERY unhealthy, and yet constantly get compliments from the ladies. :)

Morning routine:
Wake up. Make shake with fruits of choice, 1 scoop whey protein, milk.

Wait 60-90 mins (so you don't barf)

Workout.

Now, you are asking about how to just tone and not bulk. That's easy. Do a 4x10 routine. Lift 4 sets of 10 reps so you feel the burn and the reps are difficult, but not INSANE weight. You want to get through your first set of reps by lifting a weight you think you would be comfortable with as a warmup. If you can do 30 reps at that weight, finish it off BEFORE fail (never go to fail on a toning routine)
Then up the weight until you can do 10-11 reps max, rinse and repeat for all exercises.

For treadmil/cardio of any kind it is a supplement to the weights but critical. Remember 3500cals = 1lb of fat. So if you are doing a 5-6 days routine burning 700 cals a day you're going to lose around 5lbs a month NOT counting if you start dieting - so be careful you don't send your body into shock and have it start storing stuff of you.


Supplements: Consider Whey Protein, Fiber, and BCAA (pre and post shake)

Good luck

Don'ts:

1. Don't drink regular Soda. Switch to Diet if you really need a soda.
2. Don't eat after 7PM.
3. Don't eat carbs after Noon.
4. Don't finish your plate when you eat out. They always server portions that are WAY too big.
5. Don't eat out very often, and never eat fast food. Except maybe once a month at best.

Do's:
1. Do drink lots of water.
2. Do eat small meals ONLY when you are hungry. Stop when you are no longer hungry.
3. Do cook as many of your meals at home as you can. It's just simply better for you, and you have more control over what you eat.
4. Do cardio in the mornings, before you eat.

Added some comments

Awesome notes so far, thanks everyone!

Let's start with some benchmarks...

Gonna go weigh myself now, because well, we need to know where I am starting...

ok, 158.4, which is already down about 20lbs from when I stopped drinking soda all day, stopped eating junk food, and went on blood pressure and kidney stabilization meds.


As far as cardio I am sure I will be ok. The only concern I have personally is my arm, as it's 2 months out of the ER, and although I feel strong and no longer feel held-back, I still don't have feeling in my lower arm, below the elbow.

So, that said, I am printing out the advice above to compare...

Much has been said, here is another one to do: Use common sense.

I keep telling myself every morning

Maybe look into buying a juicer and making some tasty and healthy morning drinks. Great way to get a lot of vitamins. It also is like drinking coffee if you make them right, really gets you going in the morning.

black coffee & a sigaret is what I end up with after all good intentions & plans

everyone knows im a fat fuck, since i got my puppy a month ago i lost 17 pounds, 3-4 long walks a day.

I get up in the morning and have a cup of coffee with skim milk and splenda. Then work for an hour and a half or so and do a 10-12KM run. Right after the run I have a protein shake with 40 grams whey protein, 1 cup uncooked whole oats, 1 cup skim milk, ice cubes, water and a little cinnamon. Then I work for another hour or so, and go to the gym for an hour. After the gym I have 6 egg whites and 3-4 slices of whole wheat bread (low sugar).

That's my morning routine, Jiu Jitsu and dinner follow in the afternoon/evening.

Mucle milk light chocolate mint flavor!

I have yet to find a better tasting drink with as good a nutritional profile. I don't have it in front of me, but I think the pre-mixed drink boxes are 150 calories for 20g of protein with 4g carbs.

Plus mint is a stronger flavor and hides whey protein taste fairly well. :thumbsup

I drink one 1/2 an hour before I work out, every week day.

As for toning, I'd suggest 15 mins jogging on the elliptical as a warm up, then a toning based work out on the bowflex with girl reps (toning reps) of 3 sets of 15 at a lower weight. Do arms and one day, legs the next, and then back and core the next. One day off, and then do it again.

Ananda

Guys stop it with the low reps "toning myth".

The way you look more toned is by building lean muscle and/or losing body fat.

You do want to do sets for muscle endurance, but doing just a bunch of high rep low weight sets is never going to be as effective at building muscle mass as strength training and is never going to burn fat like a hard cardio session.

Don't believe the hype.

Cardio in the morning before you eat. Do it everyday. You don't need to take days off from cardio like you do with weight lifting.

Mix that with eating right. Eat anytime you are hungry, don't listen to the people who are saying eat less or don't eat after 7pm. All you have to do is make sure what you are eating is low fat, sugarless, and high protein.

If you're the type of person that eats for pleasure you have to break yourself out of that. Eat for fuel, not for pleasure. What this means is that you don't focus on satisfaction or savoring your food. By doing that I was able to drop 10lbs and become pretty ripped. All I ate / drank for a month was:

Scrambled Eggs
Tuna (I prefer Albacore)
Chicken Breast with all fat cut off
Brown Mustard
Hot Sauce
Low Sodium Wraps
Lots of Water
Skim Milk + Protein Power

Don't do the self-reward crap. Some people think a week of working out and eating right and they deserve to go out to a restaurant. If you do that you just set yourself up for failure because you have to get out of the mindset of eating for satisfaction.

Its not easy, but you have to get hardcore about it. Once you get to the weight / look you want then you can ease up on the diet, but increase the cardio and start doing weight lifting. By that time your metabolism will be in overdrive and you can afford to eat a little less healthy, but just stay active.

thats my :2 cents:

this thread is great... i guess i will start 2morrow as well.

be sure to include a banana before morning workouts to prevent cramping

What he said....if you are going to lift, lift heavy with out sacrificing form.

What is your goal? Is it just weight loss? It is muscle with weight loss? Just toning?

let's not.

You come to GFY for Nutrition and Diet advice? lol.

I'm not trying to be ripped, just trying to get in some sort of shape (besides "Short Blob"). I'm seeing a personal trainer 2X a week for 1/2 an hour and she works on different parts of me each time. Sometimes "core" (WTF is that.......), stomach, legs, arms, etc.

She said at my age I need to do AT LEAST 200 minutes of cardio a week so I'm TRYING to do that with the treadmill at home ("Trying" is the key phrase here). But I'm certainly doing better than I was by sitting on the sofa and eating bon bons all day ;)

Of course then there are days like today where after my workout, I went to McD's and begged them to sell me a biscuit at 10:35 since they stop selling them at 10:30 and they did. Plus I've been eating lunch out since I've been working outside the house every day. I'm going to buy some protein bars instead of all that crap and some pre-made shakes.

This ALWAYS works for me when I need to lose about 10lbs.

Do an hour to half hour cardio every morning. Do weights 2 or 3 times a week.

Front load your meals -- meaning, make you meals larger at the start of the day, and taper them off in size as the day goes on. Keep the meals smaller and more frequent. Keeps metabolism stoked.

ABS -- My own personal diet motto. ALWAYS BE SNACKING. Not Oreos and shit like that. Always nibble on healthy snack like carrots, apples, crackers, etc. It keeps yuour metabolism burning. When you stop eating or skip meals, you're not doing your self any favors.

This is the magic step that makes all of the difference for me...

Add an extra 20 minute cardio at the end of the day.

Good luck

Also, remember it's not so much what you do as far as workout, it's that you actually do something.

People get all hung up on 3 sets of 10 reps of this and 20 reps of that. Fuck all that. Just do what your body tells you do until it feels like you need to stop.

It's everything combined (cardio, weights and food intake) that will give you the results.

get a good night's sleep also. OK, I'm done.

What you are doing is better than nothing, but you have too much focus on the wrong things. You should really be aiming to follow these guidelines if you actually want to renconform your body:

Lifting more weights (yes, even for a female)

Exercising more frequently (4 x a week minimum in the
gym not walking on a treadmill at home)

Doing less cardio (two or three times a week for 30-60 minutes is enough)

Don't eat anything from McDonalds- EVER

Eat more home cooked meals- lean meats, veggies, fruit, limited grains. That means you have to cook or hire someone to do it for you for every meal, every day.

Eat nothing pre-cooked, nothing processed. That means forget any interesting looking frozen or pre-made dieters meals you find in your supermarket. They are all garbage.

Forget protein bars and any special food designed for dieters or people who want to lose weight. They are a waste of time just meant to separate you from your money.

Don't eat or drink pre-made anything, not even protein shakes. If you drink a protein shake make it yourself with water (not milk) and protein powder.

Learn how to count calories and your macro-nutrients exactly and figure out how much you reallly need to eat.

Sounds to me you know what the hell ya talking about!! :thumbsup

better to do it the night before, otherwise you loose the benefits of working out before eating, plus that banana would just be sitting in your stomach doing nothing yet.

Good morning everyone!

I see this thread got some night crew attention, good deal!

I am about to hit the eliptical and treadmill, for at least an hour. I will go back and read all of your responses and advice later on.

Motivated :)

Forget about fryed food and get used to eat lots of fruits and vegetables...:thumbsup

Another approach that in my opinion is more likely to succeed for the LONG term:

If you find a physical activity that you love to do, and make time for it, you'll find you are burning an hour or 2 per day and having fun. Combine that with some cardio and sensible eating and you'll be ripped in surprisingly little time, but you won't feel like you are sacrificing or struggling to do it.

For me, its martial arts. I range from 90 minutes to 3 hours, about 5 days a week
for my wife its mountain biking and swimming, usually early morning or late night.

So this morning, I had a Power Bar and a Vivanno Banana/Chocloate thingy from Starbucks, and hit the gym.

Did 30 minutes of intense treadmill, and about 30 minutes on the BowFlex.

So far I feel pretty goo. I actually want to go back in there and keep going...lol

bong hits keep me ripped

:x

good advices in here!

cardio on emty stomach will make you lose weight quick so do that first thing AM 30-45 minutes

fat into muscle or muscle into fat = myth

eat real food to get your protein fuck shakes if your looking for good results, training to tone and get a bit muscle will mean eating prior to working out and after working out REAL FOOD.

For preworkout thou its important you get a wazy maize carb / low protein drink in your system and eat some real food just a few peices of chicken or tuna or whatever that has some real protein.

Just running or cardio = flabby, ever seen skinny girls that are like a pile of dough? Its because all they do is run.

Truth is if you just do bowflex alone youl lose the 15lbs given you dont give speeches in between your sets but rather only wait 60 seconds between each set.

Im not a fatso giving advice dont worry

hahaha @ ^
Peaches I like when you post

The thing about eating late being a myth. BULL SHIT. it is not a myth.

the very last thing you want to do, is fill your stomach with food and then go to bed.

If you hit the sac by 11:30 to midnight, then 7 to 7:30 is a good cut off time.

If your weightlifting in the morning make sure to have something little like low-fat Yogurt, or Eggbeaters with oatmeal. If your weightlifting its better to wait to have have breakfast after your workout.

With the treadmill, speed isn't as important as the incline/resistant.

Try having atleast 6 small meals a day but in MODERATION, if you stop eating as much as your body is used to it will go into starvation mode & turn the muscle you have into fat.

No pop, candy,fast food, & breads.

Hope this helped, Good luck! I think were all in these nutrition spree right now, keep it up!!

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