So I'm debating whether I should hire a personal trainer.

I feel like I've reached a weight plateau. Even though I went from 330 to like 200 pounds by myself. I can't really seem to break away my 200 pound mark. I've been at it for like two months now. My weight will go up and go back down. Then again it could be me just building muscle. I exercise everyday, then walk 3 miles to go to work, then at work I lift alot of stuff. As for eating I don't really eat too much. Now and then I might eat some unhealthy foods, but only because I'll be dead tired and just want to relax myself.

Anyway, I walked to a gym that's around my area called LA:Fitness. Its a nice size gym with alot of equipment and a pool. I talked to two guys that work at the place. They basically told me about the 99.00 start price to join and the personal trainers. One of the guys is a fitness instructor and asked me what I'm trying to accomplish. I told him that I'm trying to get lean, ripped and tone for this year. Then after that I want to focus on building muscle.

So he told me that he has a trainer that will help me reach that goal. He will give me more knowledge about nutrition and different workout methods. He also told me that he was a retired army vet, and since I told him I had study martial arts in the past he thinks this instructor will benefit me. So now I'm here thinking if I should go through with it or not. When it comes to working out I usually got it done by myself without anyone's help.

I'm thinking should I just keep doing what I've always done, or drop some money and have someone to help me.

Wow 330 to 200, that's insane (a huge accomplishment)! I've got a few more than 330 (ok a lot more) on you and need to get to 235lb. I don't think that's a terrible price for a trainer, although I've never had one myself. Do you have a primary care physician? Sometimes they can refer you to a nutritionist or trainer to help as well.

Its a hard thing to consider really . Even more so with what you have been able to to do without it, I mean 330 to 200 is nothing to shrug at. I myself Have been working out everyday ( except today because I hurt my back ) and went from 185 to 149lbs. ( I am a short dude so I have a bit more to go). But now that I have also kind been stuck in the same spot as far as weight loss not going anywhere. I been debating with myself If I should go the same route. Now I have not jointed a gym yet .Everything I have done is a in home workout without equipment and treadmill at work. But as advice or suggestion for you , and what you are trying to do with yourself . I may suggest a personal trainer . They will be able to give you that outside perspective and knowledge it will take to now go from losing a ton a weight to now getting in shape and fit.

I don't have a care physician. As for the personal trainer they can cost to 45 or 54 bucks I think, but only after paying the 99.00 start price to join the gym.

Thanks man, hopefully things can workout for you aswell.

You might be better off joining a "chain" gym like Planet Fitness or Work Out World as they may include a trainer with the membership.

You knoe perhaps you should see a nutrisionist instead ..... it sounds to me that you do plenty of exercise and your diet may be the thing that is wrong , it isn´t only about if you eat or not fast food , perhaps what you eat regularly is what is wrong.

http://swolept.com/

I haven't used this service, but he gives good common sense advice.

That might be true. I probably should see someone about my nutrition.

I would go to planet fitness with someone only as a guest. This was way before I had a job, and it would take 4 miles to get there by foot. I need to get my driver license somehow.

If you dont mind me asking what kind of body fat percentage would you say you are currently at?

From the BMI calculator it says my body fat percentage is 25.7. I'm 6'2 and 200 pounds, though I can't say if its exact or not.

@falserelic: Ok, the lower you go bodyfat wise the harder it is to shed the weight (makes sense) personally if I was yourself I would focus on getting down in weight first then bulking up with muscle. Its arguably impossible to gain muscle and loose fat at the same time (with the exception of newbie gains) keep hitting the weights though.

Talk me through your daily diet?

Just a bit of background on myself (not to show off or anything but I always liked to know about someones history when getting advice) up untill about 4 years ago I was 238 pounds with no muscle whatsoever. I decided to loose the fat and got down to 182, then about a year and a half ago started hitting the weights and doing cardio and now can do half marathons and before Christmas at least (carrying alittle holliday weight at the mo) I was 202 with a bf% of 12%. I got tons of different advice and the amount ive learned on nutrition has really opened my eyes on how little most people know.

Good job on what you have done so far!

You require more high intensity cardio. 1 hour on a stationary bike with a variable resistance pattern (up then down then up again) maintaining over 100rpm 4-5 time a week will do the trick. On top of that you need to tweak your diet.

Thanks, I have an overall knowledge when it comes to the fitness world. In this other blog I did I've talked about what I've done to shed alot of that weight http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/falserelic/blog/do-you-think-this-weight-loss-method-i-ve-tried-wa/101491/

Yes I know what I've done was insane, and I've stopped doing it along time ago (Especially since I'm working now). Nowadays I usually do an hour long Cardio session everyday. I'm trying to get lean and ripped before I start bulking. In that blog I mention I wanted to get to 180, but now I want to be 170 pounds. As for eating it really depends on my mood.

Back when I first started exercising I would eat turkey meat, baked chicken, fresh fruits, and drink lots of water I had a more healthier routine. Nowadays, I have been slipping abit at times. Now and then when I'm at work I might buy some fast foods at my job on breaks, drink pops, eats some sweets and other stuff. Sometimes I might eat unhealthy foods when I'm at home. Its not an everyday thing, but when I get stressed out and just tired from working. My mindset will just switch to a lazy and want to relax mode on me. I know that the smaller someone gets the harder it will be to lose weight, and having a strict diet can help move past it, but lately my mood has kinda been fucked up.

Thinking about it I probably just answered my own question to this blog.

Nah brah you don't need a personal trainer. You're trying to get into muscle building? Look up Mark Rippetoe's book "Starting Strength" on Amazon; it's the weightlifters bible.

Everyone is different, what may work for someone else, may not work for you. I suggest changing some things up in your usual routine. Plateaus usually happen when your body gets used to what you're doing.

Couple things, you're not putting on muscle mass if you're losing weight or even staying the same, not enough to change your weight, the issue is more that likely diet. When I want to cut I drop my calorie intake, cardio helps of course but it is less important than diet in a lot of ways.

As for a trailer that's a tough one. There are a lot of 'personal trainers' out there who don't know shit all about what they're trying to teach. Now that's not to say they are all bad but I'd see about meeting a trainer first and seeing if their philosophies jive with yours.

Another thing to factor in is that Youtube is an amazing place for gym knowledge, motivation, and tutorials. If you'd like dome channel recommendations I'd be happy to help.

But seriously good on you for stepping up your game. I have a lot of respect for a man who is willing to bust ass and lose 130lbs.

@big_jon: @falserelic:

Yeah Diet is key, doesnt matter how much exercise you do if your diet aint right.

Agree with everything big jon says here spot on.

Just to give you a reference (everone is different and will have to build there diet accordingly) but when im cutting my diet looks something like this:

7:00 3 scramble eggs, protein shake.

10:00 50g walnuts or almonds and depending how hungry I am maybe a small homemade vegetable smoothie.

12:30 Turkey salad no dressing.

17:00 Some type of meat with a small amount of whole grain rice and some veg.

Then if its a gym night I will have a banana another protein shake and a small chicken sandwich when I get back. If its a cardio only night ill probably just have some low fat cottage cheese afterwards.

Thanks Jon.

I have been watching youtube fitness channels ever since I've started my weight lose journey. Such as hodgetwins,POG,Ct flecther, Kali Muscle and other fitness personalities. Though since this is a gaming site I'm sure the majority of people won't know who I'm referring too.

After reading yours and big Jon's post I think I'm going to hold off on the trainer. Both of you guys gave me an Idea of what I should start doing now. Starting tomorrow I'll go back to a more strict diet and switch up my workout routine. Even though I wear a 20 pound weight vest when I workout to add more intensity. I think I might try out some new methods that can really work my body. As for food I'm going to try out some new stuff, though I can be cheap sometimes when it comes to grocery shopping. On top of that I'm not really the best at cooking foods, but I'll experiment and see what happens, thanks both of you guys.

As has repeatedly been said here already, get your diet right and you'll be fine. You don't even have to eat less, you just have to eat the right stuff. Lot's of protein, cut out the sugar and alcohol. Personal trainers are definitely good to start with, but once you've sorted out a routine that works for you I find they become a little redundant.

Anyway, yeah, buy some protein shakes. Don't buy a vat until you find one you like, they all taste different so it's worth trying a few.

Anyway since I'm going grocery shopping in a few days. What are some foods that you guys would recommended I should try out? I'm always looking to try out something new.

I too would kill for some food recommendations. It sounds so pathetic but every time I go to the grocery store I just feel like WTF Do people eat to stay healthy??

I started dieting last year (Down to 198 from 225) and one thing I've heard over and over again is to just not buy anything thats in the interior aisles of the store. That leaves fruits, raw meat, vegetables, and dairy. The only thing I buy from the interior aisles is plain frozen fish filets.

Chicken breast, Tuna, rice, quick oatmeal, asparagus, weigh protein isolate, bananas, almonds. These are the sorts of things I try to eat when I am cutting. But more important is keeping rough track of your calories. Personally at 205lbs I try for around 2400 calories a day when cutting, this is with a fair bit of activity, and the gym. Easiest way to start tracking your calories is google, I just google how many calories in 1 cup of oatmeal? Or a banana, or an egg, then try to stretch it across 4 meals in a day, it gets pretty

easy once you start doing it because you figure out what the sorts of things you're eating are worth in calories. And after a few weeks you'll be able to adjust according to how much weight you're losing.

All those guys you're watching should help, mainly POG, and the hodgetwins, because CT, and Cali are juicers, and though they can give out good tips, they're not telling the whole truth.

At that weight and height, I think you are where you should be. You might not look the way you want to but it is all about replacing the fat you have with muscle. And it can be done. Or you could drop the weight and then build up or build up and then drop fat. All 3 are viable options. I never thought much about personal trainers other than being useful for 1 or 2 sessions. What you need is a workout partner too. Someone to be there to help you break your weight lifting plateaus. My workout sessions are better when I have someone there to spot me and help lift heavier weights. This site by this guy is pretty great. http://scoobysworkshop.com/ It really helped me just with some of the basics and presents videos for working out and reaching goals like pullups, and issues you find like reaching a plateau.

I don't know what workout you do but I think you have enough experience dropping the weight and getting stronger that you know what works for you and you should start getting specific. Exercises that work the body parts in certain ways like why do dumbell chest press on an incline as opposed to a regular bench press. And I would also say that the biggest change I made was from that scooby site above that I do cardio everyday now. It doesn't have to be something crazy but do 20 minutes, get it burning.

It can be easy. Let's assume you have a good workout routine going. Check out the website I recommend above for that and check out Arnold's training books. His beginner and intermediate workouts are great. Let's start with protein. Protein - White and lean meats. Skinless chicken breast, turkey breast, pork loin, most fish (watch the cholesterol and mercury). Carbs - Oatmeal, broccoli, asparagus, black beans, brussel sprouts, carrots, cabbage, fruits (berries have lots of sugar packed in so careful), wild rice. Fats - Cook with olive oil, nuts and avocados. Really, your plate should be like 40% of a lean meat, 40% but filled with veggies and 20% coming from nuts and avocados.

By the way, sorry for the typos and disorder in my posts, I'm posting from my phone.

I'm not a personal trainer, but there are certain rules you should follow with getting fit. I'd love to know what you guys think:

1. To loose weight, burn more calories then you consume. Simple as that.
2. Don't diet, ever! Diets are temporary. Change your eating habits, it's a permanent change that won't have you going back.
3. Follow 1 goal at a time. Either weight loss, muscle gain, getting ripped, etc. One step at a time.

There's more to it than just that, but those are pretty important. I think if you've reached a plateau it's because your body has adapted to your current lifestyle. Time to increase your workouts and vary them up. Switch the intensity, switch the muscle groups. Get some HIIT sessions into your workout.

Diet is also super important for breaking that plateau. Watch what you eat. Cut sodas and simple carbohydrates. Increase fiber, drink a lot of water, etc. Don't starve yourself. Having a job that requires a lot of manual labor and leaves you tired is a much better reason to have a healthy diet that will give you all the energy you need.

Congrats on loosing so much weight, and I'm sure you can complete the rest of your journey without wasting money on a trainer.

@vinny_says:

Yeh i agree with all 3, forgot to say in my last post drink alot of water will make a big difference I try to drink 4 litres a day, the only problem with that is I now have to get up for a piss in the middle of the night.

Thanks for all the advice gentlemen. Now I'm all set and remotivated to get back in gear. All of you guys gave me some useful tips that will come in handy. In the next few weeks I'll probably make another blog detailing my progress. Anyway thanks again to all of you.

Btw...to anyone that's overweight. Keep in mind that you can do it. Granted it will be a challenge, but rewarding in the end. Hell I remember like it was just yesterday when I first started. I didn't think I could manage out for this long. Especially since I was doing it all by myself without the aid from someone else, but in the end I kept going at it and time flew by.

Now I'm getting close to getting my weight goal. The things that kept me motivated for so long was...

1. To help ease an illness that I had going on at the time. Don't know exactly what cause it, but I was losing control over my body. It was going numb I would twitch without moving anything, and on top of that I had something wrong with my spine. Then the doctor told me I was showing signs of M.S. He drugged the hell out of me, but nowadays I'm doing alot better.

2. I wanted to look good and feel aswome. Pick up chicks and bust all kinds of nuts.

3. I wanted to get physical and mentally strong. I don't want to be that same pathetic person. That was having thoughts of ending his life over a past mistake, then again I probably should call it a bad stupid choice if anything.

From 300 - 200lbs are AWESOME! Very well done. I know exactly where you're coming from.

Anyway, I want to tell you that I too have hired a Personal trainer in March 2013 because I too have hit a plateau. Do you know how much it helped me? This trainer helped me to shed a further 32lbs in 6 months and now we're working towards a bodybuilding bikini division goal.

You should really go for it and hire the personal trainer. First, interview a few before deciding which one you think will help you reach your goals. Ask them for their qualifications, some success stories of previous clients and how they are going to help you achieve your goal. Thus you can decide which one's answers you most like and want to train with. It's really worth it.

Enjoy!