New Guy needing advice
 

I am new to some of this, so wanted some advice.

STATS: I'm 5' 9" at about 200lbs. I'm 37, married, father of four.

GOAL: I have been overweight my entire adult life, but have lost 35 lbs of fat the last 10 years. I'm really looking to drop the pudge in my stomach and gain definition/muscle. It's really hard for me to lose fat, but seems very easy for me to gain muscle. I have a pretty big frame.

I've decided the next 12 months are my time to get completely in shape. So I'm focusing most of my free time on it.

WORKOUT: I have been weight lifting for a few years with some success. I recently (last week) added cardio 4-5 days a week. I have lower back issues so the cardio I"m doing are cycle classes. I'm weight lifting 4-5 or 6 times a week. 2 hour workouts on most days....if my body can handle it.

DIET: My diet is pretty good, but I'm not losing size in my stomach. So I recently decided to focus on tracking my food, dropping all sugar and processed foods, and no diet soda.

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS: 1) Is working out 5 days a week, about 2 hours too much? Half cardio and half weight training. 2) I'm eating about 2,100 calories a day. But I'm starting to read that I need about 3 or 4 thousand. That just seems crazy to me. I have no idea how i would do that. 3) How can I use my weight training to target fat?

Thanks for helping.

Working out 5 days a week can be very bad if you are working your whole body everyday. If you are doing a split (mon - back, tue - chest, wed - legs, etc.) then it is okay. Rest is important thought so keep that in mind. You would need 3-4 kcal if you were bulking, not cutting. You can't target fat. Your body choses were it wants to burn the fat from by itself (working out abs doesn't mean you are working out your stomach fat)...

I'm splitting up the weights, so it's not a whole body. End up working each part once or twice, depending on what I"m doing that week. I'm also doing 4 hours of cardio through the week.

Well then it's probably not a problem.

Eat 10-15% lower than your TDEE and you'll be able to lose fat without sacrificing muscle gain.

Exercise 3-4 days a week.

do high intensity cardio and full body workouts each session.

eat a little less than your TDEE but I'd also advise cutting out sugar and sweets. (try it for a month)

don't cut out carbs completely but don't have sugary foods and give up the junk for at least a month or so.

try that out for a month or so and record your progress. I'm sure that will shed some fat and build a lil muscle.

bodybuilding is all about experimentation, measurement, and adaptation. remember that if anything.:weights:

(i missed some of what you wrote.)

good that you're cutting the sugar/junk

DO do the full body workouts.

uhhh anything else just ask. hope it helps. try it for a month and record the results.

agreed ^^^ You'll probably benefit more from some high intensity cardio and weights. Depending on your schedule you may find it easier to cut down the amount of workouts and choose to do full body exercises, you'll most likely benefit more from them!

Dieting is going to be key, stay away from the 3-4k amount, that's a lot of calories for someone looking to lose some weight. Like others have said, you cant specifically target fat, but doing high intensity cardio and full body workouts will help burn it off! drop the junk food and anything with a lot of sugars.

It will take some time to see how your body adjusts to your routines. Everyone here is different and can all give you their advice, but at the end of the day, it's what works best for you and is achievable in your eyes! set small goals and work your way towards them! Take/record progress so you'll be able to see how far you've come along!

Good luck

muscle weighs more than fat so do not get discouraged if it seems like your not losing weight /especially if your working out with heavy weights...best of luck to ya...