Embarking on a Fitness Journey: Seeking Wisdom on Caloric Goals, Meal Preps, and Effective Workouts. Help me Transform by July 2024!

[flute28]

Seeking guidance from r/fitness30plus to achieve my fitness goal by July 2024. My goal is to reach 200lbs by mid-year and I need advice on finding an accurate caloric calculator for support. Additionally, I'm looking for tips on creative yet simple meal preps and assistance in scheduling my workout program.

Background: Currently at BMI 34.2, weighing 252lbs, I'm a 6"0' Chicano working in retail banking. Weight gain began in January 2022, reaching a peak of 264lbs in 2023. Previously, I prioritized health in 2019, reaching 215lbs, but struggled with maintaining muscle and strength. In 2021, I tried a vegan diet but faced challenges. In April 2023, I joined UFC, attending kickboxing and boxing classes, stabilizing my weight at 242lbs.

Caloric Goals: Seeking help with caloric intake goals, as different calculators provided varying results (MyFitnessPal: 1,800 cal, NASM: 3,360 cal, Scooby’s Workshop: 4,663 cal). Need assistance in accurate calculations and understanding potential discrepancies.

Meal Prep: Requesting suggestions to make meal preps delicious and simple, addressing the monotony of plain chicken and rice. Interested in advice on meal frequency (3, 4, or 5 meals a day) and easy ways to consume 200 grams of protein.

Gym Routine: Planning to incorporate 2 weekly kickboxing sessions and weight training at UFC gym. Seeking guidance on splitting weight training days (e.g., back and arms or push and pull) for optimal results. Emphasizing the importance of effective workouts to avoid wasting time.

Overall Goal: Aiming to weigh 200lbs by July 2024 with a lean body at 20% BMI and noticeable muscle definition. Acknowledging the significance of dieting (90%) and exercise (10%) in the transformation. Aspiring to resemble a fit 30-year-old surfer and looking for advice on combining kickboxing and strength training effectively.

Appreciate your assistance in building strong fundamentals for my fitness journey. Thank you in advance.

 

[amn]

@flute28

I need advice on finding an accurate caloric calculator for support.

Try Macro Factor. Best money you'll spend on this whole thing. There is a free trial.

 

[flute28]

Additional comments: I don’t expect advice 100% cater to me. I would like suggestions and direction to resources so I can build stronger fitness fundamentals.

PR as of 01/15/2024 Bench 185lb Squats 185 Deadlifts 225lb

 

[guaguar]

@flute28 www.thefitness.wiki and the side bar

App for weight loss: MacroFactor

Food ideas: Eat This Much

Lifting: something from the wiki

Cardio: do it for x minutes or a program from the wiki

 

[flute28]

@guaguar I ended getting the macro factor

 

[questioner1]

@flute28 It won't be the ineffective workouts that waste time it will be fucking up your diet that does. Like you said 90% is diet so you focus there. The diet controls weight and the exercise will then give you the body/composition you want. That much weight loss is possible in that time frame but it will be tough in my experience. A 500 calorie deficit a day below your TDEE will get you about 1 pound of fat lost a week. So that is 25 pounds by then lost. You would have to do a 1000 calorie deficit a day below your TDEE and in my experience it is very difficult to do that especially when you are working out. So you might be setting yourself up for failure by pushing too hard.

Losing weight is all about consistency of your diet. You need to hold that deficit to maintain and any binging will mess you up. So even if you hold a 1000 calorie deficit a day for 5 days a week it is very easy to binge on the weekend and make that up. Consistency is key and for me a 500 calorie deficit was the one I found to be the easiest to hold long term as I did that for 2 years to lose the weight.