Unable to run
 

Recently discharged from the military (about a year ago) from tearing my left achilles since then I have probably put on a good 20 pounds, but recently I have started back up weight training but am still unable to run without pain coming back.

I was wondering what I could do besides brisk walks, along with weights, and doing my diet that could help with my fat loss that wont put to much strain on my left leg. Planning a trip to cancun in august with the girlfriend and want to look nice before it creeps up on me.

My current specs are

5"11
225lb

Waist - 41.5 in
Chest - 42.5 in
Biceps - 14 in
Calves - 18.5 in
Thigh - 27 in

My Goal is to get down to about 200 by August 10th with overall goal to get down to about 175-180, but then again Im doing the measurements because I know weight can play games with your mind.

Macros are pretty much as follows

Protein - 180-200g(lean meats, low carb protein shakes)

Carbs - 100-150g (main source are low glycemic foods)

Fats - 50-70g (main source almonds/some flax seed

This would put my calories at around 1600-2000, Im really not trying to diet but change how I eat overall. I know going low carb (below 100g) is ideal for fat loss but I get very bad mood swings when I dip that low and I find it really easy to consume around 1600 calories which what I have now and be perfectly fine.


Anyways if someone can suggest some alternate cardio methods for my situation I would be very appreciative and will keep everyone up to date on how I do with my goal!

Ride a bike. Try fasted workouts first thing AM too. Keep your resistance sessions short and sweet. Skip the pwo shakes. Stick to whole foods. That and realize 85% of your weight loss comes from diet. Have a higher calorie "eat whatever" day once every 7-10 days to make sure your metabolism doesn't drop with a calorie restricted diet plan.

wont skipping a pwo shake hurt me since its the optimal time to get nutrients into my bloodstream? or are you just saying substitute it with actual food?

I also find it hard to get enough protein through whole foods as I use shakes for some of my snacks, mix some fruit and a little pb and I have a nice 48g protein 20g carb shake as a snack. Anyways thanks for the advice, will defiantly give it a try

PWO shakes are overrated and if they have sugars will just do more to put on fat than muscle. If you want to take something...aminos are good enough. Substitute the shake for a real meal. You build muscle 24/7...not just in a pwo window. If your focus is weight loss...all sugar should be avoided (yes even minimize fruit or keep it to when you are most insulin sensitive in the AM or pwo). Here's a post on the hormones you need for fat loss.

hey erik,

i've been that guy before.
fat is no big deal, fat and injured sucks hard core.

at 220 plus the bike is your friend. that said, i've had the best luck losing weight and staying strong by doing frequent heavy lifting, adhereign to a low cal low carb diet, inlcluding a brisk walk with a weighted vest for about an hour plus each day.

your diet looks like it would work, post workout nutrition is might be important for recovery from really hard stuff liek gobs of intervals or lactate threshold work. My take is that really hard stuff is not going to help you lose weight....less food is.

so. in order of importance, with each recommendation supporting the one above it.....

1. rehab that ankle

2. eat less food.

3. lift weights, as often and as fersh as possible.

4. increase NEPA, riding a bike easy counts. I'll say get in whatever cardio you can handle but to tolerance and at low intensity....you'll get soem blowback form different people on this, my informed opinion, havign lost a shitload of bodyfat in teh past is that you'll get more out of it will interfere with goals one through three less.

5.occasional interval stuff to tolerance. It won't kill you and will keep you frosty...cut it out if it interferes with any of the above.

Did I hear someone say Tabata intervals on a Concept 2?

Consider yourself blessed.

well im taking Nitrean as it only has 4g of carbs, 48g of protein and less then 1g of fat and 220 calories with water which I find it ideal for my snacks as it contains both whey and casien to get rid of any cravings I have I also like it as I can use it as a replacement meal if im in a hurry. I dont see my self dropping it out of my diet as I have roughly 13 pounds of the stuff.

Im also cutting carbs out for dinner and keeping any of my carbs I do intake during the day.

Thanks for the article im going to check it out.

Post Workout shakes are unnecessary in someone training for fatloss and probably hurt fat loss. There I said. I know this is not the mainstream line, but the fitness mainstream is run by supplement companies, who pay Brady Quinn millions to tell us "I do not want to waste a workout".

Now if you are going for mass, you need that post workout shake to increase insulin release, activating channels, carrying in aminos acids...blah, blah, blah. But you body will do that anyway, the difference, it will use your own fat as the source of fuel...and you probably have enough amino acids floating around.

If you goal is to lose fat, I do not think you can beat the CF WOD. Just follow it, scaling/sub'ing as needed. Good luck!

Actually you are spot around these parts....thank god we are not owned by a supplement company around here! (once T-nation buys out Greg though we are screwed)

I concur especially when injuries are involved. Diet is still the #1 factor...and what works with low intensity "cardio" is low carb, mod protein, higher fat..while still being in a calorie deficit state daily. Kind of like zone ratios...except cut the carbs in half, keep them mostly pwo and then double the fat.

Fasted AM or PM lower intensity cardio sessions can work well for fat loss too.

Lose the fat, get your eating spot on, get your injury better (from someone who has suffered plenty of injuries) and then worry about uping intensity or conditioning down the road if that is your goal.