MrFish

Evening all!

Excuse the length of this post, but you guys seem to be a knowledgeble bunch so I thought it was worth a go.

I have noticed that there are a number of rather vast threads concerning weight loss, running, fitness etc. about and thought that rather than let my quandaries get buried within them might ask a little bit of straight forward advice.

Background on me....I'm 6ft, 24 years old and have gone from 19 stone to 13 1/2 stones since this time last year (visual evidence of re-sexification available on request). This has been achieved through a massive change in diet and a small change in activity.

Problem is that depite 13 1/2 stones not sounding like much (in comparison with previous) i'm still quite (very) flabby with my shirt off and have sizable chesticles. Now maybe this is because i'm not particularly muscular, or maybe I just have too much skin (sexy image isn't it) I don't know but I would like to sort it out with some exercise.

I am returning to America for a month in 8 weeks time to visit some old friends, and for the first time in my life be confident enough to take my shirt off should we find ourselves on a beach, pool.....*AHEM* bed....etc.

I have tried Gyms before and ended up going about twice a week for 3 weeks before giving up.

I'm going to create a strict plan and stick to it as I have done with my diet and am trying to formulate a few ideas together:

1. Running 3 (maybe 4) times a week, distance of 2 miles, gradually increasing my pace for the first 4 weeks, then doubling the distance and doing the same thing for the final 4. I don't really have any experience of running so please tell me if i'm an idiot

-Do I need any equipment in particular? If I get some £40 running shoes and a stopwatch is this going to suffice equipment wise?

-Is two miles enough?

-whats a good/average/crap time for 2 miles?

-Is 3/ times a week enough?

2. Gym. I am thinking that If I plan to go to the gym 4 times a week I can then do a day of cardio (30 mins on treadmill etc.) followed by a day on resistance machines and swap things around with rest days in between.

-How long can I expect to do cardio for as a beginner? is their any specific speed/heart rate I should be aiming for?

-How much resistance should I be aiming for on a session? 5 sets of 5 reps on a pre-selected group of exercises that I would change around and increase weights with intermittently.

Maybe I should combine running with resistance training at the gym.

Misc. question..... My diet has been pretty limited calorie wise, do I need to consider increasing protein intake if I am to hope to increase muscle?


Thanks for your time in reading this, any advice, helpful internet links you have or even if you just want to tell me to sod off and ask a personal trainer my myriad of questions, pop a response in this thread.

Cheers all!