seldom_seen

Food log for yesterday: (all calories are approximate...) 8 a.m. 410 cal. breakfast - Shake w/ soy protein, banana, berries & soy milk 10:45 200 cal. small serving pasta salad w/chickpeas & veggies noon 650 cal. lunch - More pasta salad w/chickpeas & veg, plus 2 Tbsp peanut butter 3:30 410 post workout shake, same as breakfast 9:40pm 1,000 dinner - rice & edamame bowl w/kalamata olives & dried cranberries 11 pm 210 other random snacks: 1/3 cup dried cranberries 140 cal. kalamata olives - 120 cal. Total: 3,140

Thanks for the advice everyone! Reversed the order of my workout today & I think I was able to push it a little harder in the gym. It definitely cut down on my run after – much less energy for the treadmill so I cut the run short by a good 10 minutes... We'll see how it goes as things progress. I've got a food journal going, so I guess it's time to get the training log going, too. I'll get the food log details posted tonight in my training log, & I'll try to start keeping tabs on my workout progression so I can hopefully fine tune my diet & workouts a little more. Oh, & I hear what you're saying about the swimming, but there's no convenient pool around.

Ok... I've been bad about keeping track, but good about hitting the gym. In another post I asked about how much cardio was too much, but here's what happened today. Today I hit the gym & ran for about 30 min on the treadmill set to random incline changes. Ended up going about 5k. After that I did a brief leg routine which consisted of lunges (w/dumbbells), some declined sit-ups(?) w/ a 25lb plate, then finished up with calf raises. Around 6 p.m., I hiked about 4 miles with my gf & the dogs (not a daily thing - usually happens about twice a week). It's now 10:14 p.m, and my calorie count is somewhere around 2,910... The treadmill said I burned about 350-ish calories during the run, & I have no idea how many I burned doing my legs/core & then later during the hike.

Finally started a food journal today, too, so we'll see if i'm actually eating as much as I think I am...

Hey folks, I've done a search on cardio, but haven't come across what I'm looking for yet. I apologize if this is a repetitive question, though... Just wondering if I'm doing too much cardio... My goals are cutting fat & gaining muscle, & I've been working out religiously (5 days a week) for the last 2 months or so. I'm an ectomorph, I guess, and each session, I do cardio before I lift. Each day, I run for 30 min. (including warm up & cool down), which ends up being around 5k. The treadmill is set to random, so it throws inclines at me throughout the run. After that, I take a 2-3 minute break or so, then move on to my lifting. I'm definitely seeing strength gain, and some definition slowly beginning to show, but I'm wondering if all the cardio is helping or hurting... Thanks a million, for any responses, this site is awesome.

well... i've been lame about keeping track of this stuff, haven't I? a couple of updates, though: for good news, my new gym finally got free weights & i've been hard at it... starting to show a little progress, I think. i'm eating much more food & drinking TONS of water compared to the period before I started training & feeling good overall. the bad news is, I don't know what half the machines/exercises/techniques are, so I don't really know what some of the things I'm doing are called. plus i'm not really keeping track of weight/reps, but I can tell i'm gaining a little muscle. that's good, right?

Howdy folks. Thanks again for all the great advice & training tips. Below, I'll post my first food & workout log, hopefully putting it online will help me figure out how to make it more effective & keep me at it. Right now everything is on machines, the gym is new & they haven't gotten free weights yet... Also, the last sets are approximate, but pretty close, I'll add an extra rep or up to muscle exhaustion. 3/23/09 FOOD: Breakfast - Bowl Cereal + Soy milk + Coffee + Multi vitamin mid morning - Soy latte Lunch - Bowl Tomato, white bean & brown rice soup + 5-10 tortilla chips Post Workout - Soy protein shake (made w/h2o) w/ a few berries & a couple vegan choc chips tossed in Dinner - (Chili-Chocolate) Mole Skillet Pie w/ Greens Bedtime - Soy protien (made w/h2o) WORKOUT: Cardio - Warm up - 5 min. + Run - 10 min. + Cool down - 5 min. Leg Press- 200 lbs x 12, 205 lbs X 10, 210 lbs x 210 Ab Machine- 75 lbs x 30, 70 lbs x 30 Flys- 80 lbs x 12, 85 lbs x 10, 90 lbs x 9 Calf raise- 200 lbs x 20, 200 x 15, 200 x 10 Torso rotation- 70 x 12 (L), 70 x 12 ®, 70 x 12 (L), 70 X 12 ® Pull Downs 100 lbs x 12, 105 x 10, 110 x 8

Thanks for all the replies everyone. It's been crazy busy the past week so I haven't logged on in awhile. I have stayed hard at it in the gym, at least! Over the next few days or so, I'll try to get a food diary going and start keeping track of what I'm doing cardio & lifting wise. Will probably even suck it up & post a "before" photo so I can stay motivated... I figure if I post everything here, I'll have you guys to help set me straight if I'm doing something unproductive.

Thanks for the welcome VLV, and yes on the name, that's one of my favorite books! My primary goal with cardio is to drop the beer gut action I've got going. It's not that big, but I'd like to be rid of it... Get that other kind of six pack going... I'm starting to think I need to maybe work on gaining more muscle first then drop fat the fat, maybe? Can both be done at the same time?

Thanks for the welcome and the advice LB! I'm sure more mass wouldn't hurt, but that's not the main goal, I guess...

Hey folks, New to the boards & to getting in 'shape.' Anyway, I've been searching the boards, & I'm definitely managing to overload myself with information, so I'll give you my story and throw myself on the mercy of complete strangers for advice... 31 years old, been a vegetarian for a few years and vegan for a little over a year now. About 6'1" and 160-ish pounds - skinny but with some extra unwanted belly fat for sure... (I'll post some photos if that'll help.) Started hitting the gym & running about 2-3 weeks ago. Doing the lifting (machines) & the cardio together appx. 4-5 times/week. Eating 2 meals/day (lunch & dinner) with a protein shake for breakfast, one post workout and one before bed... Not wanting to get huge, just toned, lean & mean. Do I really need to pack on the calories, eat 6 times/day & go the big mass route? Also, should I be resting more or changing my cardio/workout schedule? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.