Fat loss

[Negras]

Hello,
Last year I quit alcohol (I drank way too much) and started taking anti-depressants (Asertin and Miansec). Both the changes (along with connected changes in lifestyle) contributed to the fact that I have gained around 15 kg of weight that yearr. I am 37 years old, 178 cm in height, and weighted 74 kg then compared to around 89 now. Some of it is a gain in muscles too, I am trying to work out regularly but a lot of it is just fat. I had a blood test recently and my cholesterol levels are very high. I am looking for a way to lose some kgs, preferably with keeping the muscles. Although the health factor is the main one. I know that I should change my dietary habits but what with workout? Which program would be better for my goal? 30 Days of HIIT or Total Burn? Or maybe any other? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Damer]

@Negras congratulations on cutting out alcohol. It's not an easy thing to do. I would say start with Reboot. Add "Exercise of the Day" from the site's front page if you feel it gets too easy, but stick to it for thirty days as that will be a shock to the body. After that you will be able to see what you need to get to next and have a better idea of your capabilties and potential. I hope that helps.

 

[Negras]

Thanks for your advice. I forgot to mention that I workout 4-5 times a week with workouts from Darebee and cycle a bit, so I am not completely new working out but the last month I was focusing for on dumbbell streanght workouts. Since I had that bad results, I decided to stop the streanght workout for now and focus on getting my weight to the right level.

 

[Damer]

@Negras you're most welcome. I cannot give you clinical advice because this is not my area of expertise however keep in mind that weight gain is a side effect of virtually every antidepressant medication. (There is a study on this here.) Exercise is also an antidepressant. You're going the right way about everything by taking charge of your own physical and mental health. Only you, really, know how you feel and you will need (hopefully in consultation with your doctor) strike the balance just right so you change your dose of antidepressants as necessary with a view to weaning yourself off them entirely in the future.

Whatever program or workouts you do what I will strongly advice you to do is keep track of everything, including how you feel either by starting a thread here (which might be useful on days when you can do with some moral support from other members of The Hive) or as a diary on your own. Regardless, some days will be off and sometimes your performance will dip. It happens to all of us because we are dynamic systems. We change internally all the time. But by keeping a record you will be able to gain a much better perspective.

I really hope this helps and please let us all know how you're doing.

 

[Negras]

Thank you again for your advice. I will start a thread then. I am doing fine now. I feel energy and will to make some change in my life. I hope it will stay like this.

 

[Nitrous828]

@Negras

You got great advice from Damer on the workouts, and I would just like to add that the workout will get you about 20% of the result, the other 80% is diet and nutrition, if you dont focus on eating a healthy high protein diet with in a deficient calorie count you will not be losing any weight, its important to be in 300-500 calorie deficiency range to enable your body to burn off the extra fat while maintaining your muscle mass using a high protein diet.

Darebee has a lot of meal plans and healthy recipes that I advice everyone to take advantage of, I hope this helps, and good luck with your journey!

 

[Negras]

@Nitrous828 , as I mentioned in my first post - I am on it. Thank you for advice and support anyway. Some might think it is just a random comment from a random person on Internet, but it means quite a lot to me.