Jon-PokerVIP: YO everyone. Little update - i got back to the gym once and that has been it. My eating is not great but not as bad as it could be. I am currently talking to some different companies about weight loss programs and will report back.
I think this might confuse you even more. Also unless this program is tailored specifically for you (and I don't mean some guy telling you it is, I mean some testing of your current fitness level, measurements etc. + adjustments along the way) it's almost certainly not worth it with so many amazing free programs out there.
Here's the thing. Fitness industry is so fragmented and confusing because every year a lot of companies have to sell you a bunch of new stuff that don't work to make a profit. I'm going to simplify all of this for you.
The vast majority of people needs only 3 things to lose weight: caloric deficit, discipline and training (in that order, discipline is more important than training because it's impossible to outrun a bad diet). There are some rare situations where this won't work (hormonal imbalance so severe that it makes one unable to lose fat and requires medical help or actual food addiction which requires help of a licensed therapist with experience on this particular subject) but for the most part that is all.
When it comes to diet. Simple:
1. Weigh yourself and take some measurements (waist + maybe chest and hips)
2. Figure out your
BMR.
3. Cut up to 20% calories from it (not more unless you're bad at tracking macros and you want to give yourself a safety buffer, but even then 25-30% is an absolute max).
4. Count macros, eat clean foods (chicken, fish lots of green veggies, some fruits and all of this preferably boiled/baked and not fried), use protein supplement but only if you need it to hit your macros which should hover somewhere around 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% (healthy!) fat. Don't worry about stuff like carb cycling, keto diet etc. etc. and don't even stress about % too much. If it's 60/20/20 or 10/60/30 on some days it's totally fine. You can eat 6 meals a day you can eat 3. It doesn't matter that much.
5. Weigh yourself and take some measurements but only after a month of following this! After that, you can do it more often (every 2 weeks) because your BMR might change and you'll need to make slight adjustments to your diet.
Discipline:
This is the most important part of the whole process because it's impossible to outrun a bad diet. If you're addicted to food nothing is going to work for you until you sort that issue. Good news is that most people aren't and there's a good chance all you need is 2-3 months of clean diet with no cheat meals to develop new eating habits. You can do a couple of things to help you through this process. You're the average of 5 people you're spending the most time with so ditch drinking buddies and find some gym buddies. Start posting daily updates again. Find a smaller gym where you won't feel judged (even thou most people won't do that and those smart ones will applaud you for being in progress of making a positive change in your life).
Training:
Start with slow/moderate cardio.1hour a day of brisk walking is all you need to do for the first month. Don't go all in just to go all out. Diet is more important anyway. Stick some headphones in your ears and listen to good audiobooks so you don't feel like you're wasting time. Your primary goal is losing fat so keep that in mind. Since you're in a caloric deficit you can't build a lot of muscle mass if any but you're not an experienced lifter so it's not impossible. Also as a beginner you can definitely make some strength gains even on a caloric deficit. Because of that don't even look at machines and isolation exercises. They are pointless for your goals. However, you don't want to lose any muscle mass while cutting so some form of resistance training is necessary. I highly recommend three major compound movements (squat, deadlift, press). Find a good free strength training program online and follow it (a lot of people reported good results following
5x5 and
Candito 6 week strength program you can also research Starting Strength but don't obsess over it, just pick one and you're good). If you don't have trusted gym buddy hire a knowledgeable coach for the sole purpose of teaching you the correct form for those 3 lifts so you don't injure yourself (ditch him after that before he has a chance of selling you some amazing, revolutionary pre-workout). Also remember that bench press is the only gym exercise that can actually kill you so find a spotter or substitute it with standing shoulder press (it's not ideal but you're not trying to be a powerlifter, you're trying to preserve and/or maybe build slight amount of muscle mass and make some strength gains that will make you feel more confident, motivated and will help in the future when you cut a bunch of weight and decide that you want to switch focus on building muscle mass).
Supplements:
Nothing works. Seriously. There's so much broscience on the subject and so many people trying to sell you their own brand of bullshit that you shouldn't trust anyone. The only two things that are scientifically proven to work for building/preserving muscle, are protein powders (but protein in food works just as well so use powders only for the sake of convenience to hit your macros) and creatine. That's all. And even with those two there's a bunch of misconceptions. You don't need both casein protein and whey protein for different purposes, you don't need "loading period" when using creatine. Buy some protein (from whey, casein, soy, rice, bean it doesn't really matter especially if you eat meat) and drink pre or post workout shake on days when you would have trouble with hitting your macros otherwise (again doesn't matter there's no such thing as anabolic window as long as you eat some protein between your workout and sleep you're fine). Buy some creatine and eat 5mg per day (skip a week after 4-6 weeks of daily usage). That's all. You don't need pre-workouts, fat burners, BCAA, HGH Boosters, Methoxyisoflavone and all that nonsense. It's just snake oil. If you're having trouble getting pumped for a workout... drink coffee.
One last thing building/preserving muscle is not end all be all. If your diet is not on point you might want to supplement Omega 3 (but it's better to eat nuts and fish), vitamin B12 (but you can find it in meat) or vitamin D3 (but it's better to go outside on a sunny day, again eat some fish and drink orange juice).
Hope that helps. Good luck and have fun sir.