(Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or even a nutritionist. This information comes from my own personal quest to lose weight and the research that I have personally done. It’s also what has worked for me. Please consult a professional before making any changes to your diet or exercise regimen.) I remember looking in the mirror in the middle of last year and being somewhat disgusted with the way that I looked and felt. I became quite overweight and unhealthy during my last few years of college. I had lost weight before and leaned out. Now it was time to do it again, but this time, make it stick. Below is a weight loss for men plan that any guy can follow to lose weight and keep it off for the long term.
Diet
Photo credit: Source I tend to hate the word “diet” because for most men it brings about thoughts of eating like a rabbit, eating too little, or eating things that don’t lack any taste whatsoever. This definitely isn’t the case though. You can definitely lose weight while eating a bunch of tasty food, you just need to change up your eating habits. When I was losing weight, I had a two-step plan for changing my eating habits. The first was to cut out refined carbs and sugars as much as possible, while eating lean meats, green leafy vegetables, and nuts and seeds. This is what the step-one diet for weight loss for men could look like in a typical day: Breakfast
3 Eggs light salt and pepper, scrambled 2 cups cooked spinach w/ light salt and pepper 1 cup of coffee, black
Mid-morning snack
1 handful of almonds 1 small apple
Lunch
1 Large, seasoned chicken breast over 2 cups of mixed greens, assorted fresh vegetables (onions, red peppers, tomatos, etc.) 1 serving of blue cheese dressing, vinegar and oil, or a vinaigrette
Mid-afternoon snack
1 small block of cheese (sort of like the string cheese sticks)
Dinner
2 servings of black beans or pinto beans (even refried beans, but not every day) 8oz. steak, seasoned Side salad or fresh broccoli w/ butter
Dessert
mixed fruit or even a homemade fruit smoothie
Doesn’t sound too bad, huh? Basically you are cutting out a ton of carbohydrates and sugars with the first phase. This will help you lose weight faster in the beginning, which is a good thing because if men do something and don’t see results somewhat immediately, we tend to give up. In the second step of the diet you can start to slowly add grains back into your eating habits as long as they are whole and as close to being unprocessed as possible. On my weight loss journey, I moved myself more inline with the Paleo side of eating instead of bringing back whole grains into my diet. That doesn’t mean that it is the only way of eating right, as I have seen many men go either way with great success. For the second part of your diet just make sure to not relapse your eating back to that of refined sugars and grains. As we lose more and more weight the idea of “cheating” on our eating becomes easier and easier to do. We start to think, “well, one Oreo won’t hurt, right?” This is dangerous territory for a one time fat guy. If you love your sweets and bad eating, then maybe you need to give yourself a cheat day once or twice a month where anything goes. This could help you stay on the straight-and-narrow for most of the month.
Exercise
Photo credit: Source If you haven’t been exercising very much or at all, then you want to start off with something that won’t completely kill you. Below is a great starter exercise plan for men. Weight training 3 days a week, with at least one day in between, do the following:
Body weight exercises rotating between pushups, squats, lunges, crunches, leg-lifts, and pullups. To start, do 5 reps of each exercise and move onto the next with only 15 second breaks in between. Keep the rotation going for a total of 20 minutes If you can’t do full pushups, then you can do modified pushups off of the wall at an angle, or even on your knees. If you can’t do full pullups (most guys can’t at first) grab a chair to keep your feet on. If you can’t finish the whole 20 minute set, just give yourself a break. Make sure as you move forward in the starter exercise plan, that you are continually improving on your workout.
You can also do a mixture of exercises from one of my favorite sites, SimpleFit. Cardio
Photo credit: Source 5 days a week, do the following:
Walk for a total of 30 minutes. Use medium to high intensity on your walks. You don’t have to look like one of those crazy power walker types. Just keep your pace up while walking. Remember you can split up your walking during the day, like a 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon, or a 15 minute walk during the morning and night.
On your off days between your body-weight sets 3 days a week, do the following:
High intensity intervals for a total of 12–15 minutes. This consists of walking or light running for 1–2 minutes and then sprinting for 30–45 seconds. Follow the table below for a 15 minute high intensity interval plan:
If you aren’t into the plan above, you can get some other great high intensity interval plans from Men’s Health here Basically, for this exercise plan, do the above exercises for a total of 3 weeks, then have one “light” week where all you do is your cardio. This will help you get over the dreaded “plateau” that we can face after a month or so as well as give your body a rest from the body weight exercises. As you move forward with your exercise and it becomes easier and easier, try to add more reps or even light dumbbells to your workouts. This will help keep your exercise plans interesting as well as help you continue to see results as you move forward. If you want to try something different when it comes to exercise, check out the NerdFitness Guides.
Bringing it together
The key to weight loss for men is to ensure that your diet is one that is sustainable and tasty and that your exercise continues to be fun yet challenging. You could possibly lose weight by simply changing your diet or by only working out a little, but if you want to drastically lose weight, especially at first, follow the above weight loss for men plan to accomplish your goals. It isn’t unheard of to lose anywhere from 10 to 25 pounds of fat a month while using the above diet and exercise plan. When I first started, I lost a total of 30 pounds in three months. The trick is how you can keep the weight off as you move past the initial phase. As you get further and further way from your “fat days” you start to losen up on your diet and exercise regimen. Make sure to have someone keep you accountable, whether it be an exercise buddy or just a friend that knows what you are trying to do. It also helps to keep a health journal with your food and exercise in it. With this tool, it’s easier to spot when you are starting to backslide on your new way of life. Hopefully the above weight loss for men plan can help you reach your weight loss goals. (Photo credit: Human weight loss chart symbol via Shutterstock)
