Vanessa and I started going to the gym a a little over a year ago. Wasn't really getting the results we were looking for. She wanted to lose weight and tone up. I wanted to lose my gut and gain strength/muscle.
A few months ago Vanessa started working out with a trainer. She's lost 25 pounds since then. The main thing was counting her calories. I don't have a trainer, but started counting my calories too and lost 20 pounds.
To calculate how many calories to eat:
Take your weight x 12 and divide that by 20% (x .2)
Take that number and subtract it from the weight x 12.
Example:
200 lbs x 12 = 2400
2400 x .2 = 480
2400 - 480 = 1920
Limit your calories to 1920 a day.
The important part is to spread those calories between 4 - 5 meals.
Eat smaller amounts more times a day. This stimulates your metabolism and helps you lose weight.
I counted calories for a while, but then stopped because I got a pretty good idea of how many calories I was consuming.
Even my wifes trainer will admit that counting calories is the biggest factor in Vanessa losing the weight.
Also, be careful with supplements;
Creatine is great, but remember to stop taking it for a week after 4-weeks. Also note that since it makes your body retain water you'll have weight gain from the water retention.
Also take protein to feed the muscles. I was using whey isolate protein (4everfit) from Vitamin World, but switched to the muscle milk protein to gain more mass.
The whey isolate was a good lean protein, but not idea for guys wanting to get bigger. The muscle milk powder proteins have a lot more in them to help guys looking to gain mass.
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I started using a trainer last week. Tomorrow is my 2nd session. I was making the kinds of gains I wanted and need someone to spot and help push me that extra rep.
Good luck.