Fat and Tired

[silverflame]

r/fitness30plus, I need some of your quality advice! I’m fat and tired of it. I’m 36, 6’ tall, 245 lbs and 30% body fat. I have terribly inconsistent training and nutrition. I am a high school principal so I’m often busy and find that I use food to cope with stress pretty often.
I’ve been working on establishing a routine with early-morning workouts because that’s what I feel would be consistent but I keep finding myself frustrated about how I should approach things.
I don’t know whether I should work on losing body fat first or focus on building some muscle first. I eat about 2000 calories a day (though some days far more!) and I am tempted to cut calories in an attempt to lose weight. A lot of fitness advice I read advises an increase in calories and a focus on building muscle. Then cut back later and maintain a more realistic caloric goal - but I wasn’t sure if that would be a good approach for me…
I would love to be able to get down to about 15% body fat (I figure I would have a weight of about 200 lbs.) I also have some training goals that I would like to achieve:
- Run 1.5 miles in 10 minutes
- Bench 1.5x my body weight
- Squat 2x my body weight
- Deadlift 2.5x my body weight
I have considered strength training with a 5x5 approach, CrossFit, 5k training, etc. I feel like I am just looking in too many directions and that I could really use some help picking a target and going for it. Can you all help me out?

 

[neopoko]

@silverflame The very first thing that you need to do is work on your eating. 80% of your success in terms of weight loss comes from your eating. Gotta fix that before anything else.

As for weight loss or muscle building, start with weight loss. You can definitely lift weights while you’re losing weight (it’s actually a great way to do so) but you gotta fix your eating.

As a fellow educator (I’m a teacher), I understand your struggles. First, look to make small changes in your diet. Then try to work on eating regularly and counting your calories. When you’ve got your eating fixed and dialed in, then it’ll be time to get a kickass workout plan.

 

[silverflame]

@neopoko Thanks for the direction! I know that diet is my biggest issue…I’ll dial it in and post some updates!

 

[neopoko]

@silverflame Honestly, a food diary is a good place to start. Write down what you eat and how much you eat. Maybe also jot down some thoughts about the day at the end of the day. See if there’s a pattern you can identify to help you break negative cycles. My principal had a problem with peanut M&Ms and Diet Coke. He cut those and lost 20 lbs.

 

[silverflame]

@neopoko Dang that would be awesome! I’ll dig into it and focus on making that happen all week.
I was a fellow science teacher before moving over to administration (the dark side), btw. I miss the classroom sometimes!

 

[nato12]

@silverflame Get the my fitness pal app. It’s free, and if you enter what you eat, it’ll tally all your calories and macros. Tremendously helpful.

 

[bmh3d]

@silverflame @silverflame Get MFP.

Start logging and tracking your food and see how it affects your weight. Everyday. Be real with yourself. If you fall off the wagon get back on it's okay. It won't be linear but you have to keep trying the first few months are tough and then it gets easier.

But you have to reprogram your relationship with food first. The rest will be easier.

 

[neopoko]

@silverflame Sweet!! Well, DM me if you’ve got questions or need more advice!!

 

[1s4b3ll4]

@neopoko

My principal had a problem with peanut M&Ms and Diet Coke. He cut those and lost 20 lbs.

The M&Ms I understand, but how was the Diet Coke a problem for calories?

 

[neopoko]

@1s4b3ll4 He substituted it for water. I suppose the comment was a bit misleading because I’m sure there were other changes as well, but those are ones that he told us and those are the results he told us.

 

[ellyflowers]

@1s4b3ll4 Ive read that artificial sweeteners can mess with your appetite and could lead to feeling more hungry. Diet foods could also lead to actually eating more calories, people justify they can eat more cuz it's healthier/ lower in calories but actually end up eating more calories. Combining these with someone already having difficulty in being in a cal deficit is trouble

Could be all broscience, didn't look into how those studies were conducted and it's been a while but I know I've been guilty of the 2nd one!

 

[okfine]

@silverflame I've worked out off and on for years but it's only been in the last 5 months that I've started eating healthy and it's made the biggest difference in my training. I remind myself you can't outrun a bad diet.

Also, I don't do any crash stuff; no starving, fasting. I started calorie counting for 1 month to find what I needed to improve. I don't count calories now and yes, I eat the occasional sweet treat, it's just a smaller portion.

 

[marmnt]

@neopoko To echo this, prioritize protein first and foremost. If you do nothing else other than get 225g of protein per day [ideally from lean sources like poultry, fish, and some milk/yogurt], you’ll see results.

As far as exercising in the morning, it just takes time to build the habit. I just turned 40 and am up at 4:30 every day to work out. It’s the only time I get to myself and sets my path for the rest of the day. My rule is “once my feet hit the floor, I’m up”

 

[ayla17]

@silverflame I run 20-30 miles per week, lift 5 days a week, feel very fit, but a 6:30 mile is FAST! Goals are great but keeping them short-term and achievable are keys for success.

 

[michele303]

@ayla17 This is the best advice I’ve seen that isn’t too detailed.

Keep your goals reasonable. If I set a goal to deadlift 440 at the end of a progressive cycle, I’m still starting in the 100’s somewhere. Your body needs time to adjust, and it would be silly of me to try to start that cycle pulling 315 for reps, as equally silly as me upping my goal to like 750 from the get go, especially if I haven’t been deadlifting much.

That, to me, is what it sounds like when I hear 1.5 in 10 minutes. There’s a lot of people who can’t do 1 mile in ten minutes, this should really be broken down incrementally.

First goal - a quarter mile in 2 min

Second goal - half mile in 4:30 or less

Third goal - mile sub 10

And then progress from there. You have the rest of your life to set fitness goals, no point in pushing past your physical limits from the get-go and inviting injury into the party.

 

[bettie]

@michele303 I'm the same age as OP, used to weigh 270lb, and can run a 5:35 mile and deadlift 600+ now.

His goals aren't unreasonable, they are just difficult.

There is nothing wrong with setting lofty goals, in fact, I think the fact that I always set my goals high and beyond what most would deem reasonable, is a major reason why I've been so successful.

Always reaching for more and pushing to be better.

Setting a goal of 1.5 miles in 10 minutes when you can't run a mile is fine. Just have milestone goals along the way

Like, I set a goal to deadlift 700 before I could even deadlift 600. And then I worked my ass off, and hit my milestone sub-goals of 585, 600, 635, 650, 660, 675 along the way, before pushing all the way through to 700, 750, 765

 

[silverflame]

@bettie I can and do like to run. I usually run about 8-9 min miles when I go 5k, but I haven’t trained consistently AT ALL. I’ve looked for solid fitness goals and those are some that I’ve seen referenced for putting yourself at a good level of fitness. That’s why I’m aiming for them.
A couple of years ago I was 220 and I could do a 6:15 mile (but only 1 mile!). I was also able to bench 285, DL 425, and squat 380. I feel reasonably sure I can meet my goals with consistent training.

 

[besjoux]

@silverflame imo as a runner who can do a 10 min 1.5 miler, if u lose weight and train consistently, you should have 0 problem hitting that goal. It might take 6 months to even a year but it’s 100% attainable for the average person

 

[silverflame]

@besjoux That’s my hope. I am viewing my goals as my ultimate “end point” which I will mainly work to maintain once I reach them - almost said “if” but ole Yoda set me straight! Do or do not!

 

[michele303]

@bettie But did you set that deadlift goal of 700 before ever loading the bar with 135?

There’s a vast difference