**** the cardio and focus on the weights, dude.

Wait, wait, you're seriously telling me you're going load up on carbs to stay full?

That's backwards, dude.

NOTHING keeps you fuller than meat, full of good fats, and high-fiber veggies. Eating fat doesn't make you fat.

My experience has been that intense cardio burns weight faster than intense weights... with the added benefit of burning out all of the smokers gunk from my lungs.

I want to get back to 180-5 as quickly as possible, then start the buffing process... but I'll be doing some basic bodyweight exercises here and there during my circuits as well, pushups, pullups, crunches etc. so that will help.

Curious regarding caffeine and ketosis. I drink a regular cup of black coffee every morning. Will that slow ketosis? What about the occasional 2nd cup of coffee?

Yep, right on !

I've been doing half and half. First half of my workout is strength training, and the second half is cardio intervals. Also, a majority of my strength training is endurance reps (high reps with slightly lower weight). I've lost 60lbs in five months.

Also, there's not much difference in burning calories and weight loss in cardio v. weight training. That has more to do with diet than anything. So, if you're wanting to shed pounds, then adjusting your diet and getting protein may need to be part of "phase 1".

JMO.

Dude I've lost pound after pound this way, I don't want to give up my breads, potatoes and rices... and yes, for extreme bursts of physical activity you need carbs. Not to mention that trying to load up on meat for every meal is freakin EXPENSIVE... look, I get that there are 1001 ways to skin a cat, but mine works, its worked over and over.

The goal for me is to not only make it work again but STICK to it, I always get satisfied and start slacking off, or let cold weather get in the way like a lazy pussy.

Bottom line, my style of eliminating fat and sugar works... nothing fried, limit hamburger consumption, lots of baked chicken, "oven fried" chicken, canned tuna, butter/oleo spread is out, plenty of veggies with zero butter on them, diet soft drinks, easy on the cheese etc.

What can I say, I love my starches, they keep you full on the cheap and provide a lot of energy for workouts.

I can't believe what I'm reading. It's like you're an alien with a completely different physiology.

Sounds like you've got a solid plan, Luv... nothing you or Clay are saying is wrong, its just that with fitness their are several different ways to arrive at the same conclusion.

For me, its time to do something different, which is going heavy cardio this time, if for nothing else just to switch it up and also because as a smoker, its very easy for me to see how badly I need some intense, prolonged cardio... I'm looking forward to some incredibly interesting looking hacks in the shower about 3 weeks into this + the switch to vaping, its happened before and is quite the eye opener.

Also, for girls, you're absolutely doing the right thing... stick with the endurance/tone building high reps, no girl in her right mind wants big muscles.

I'm pretty naive to it, I know names of a few and have heard that some are more this or that, but dont really have any personal experience or really researched them.

I'm 47, have been working out for 30 years, so I'm past my competition age for any bodybuilding, power lifting or CF Games, not to mention lack of genetics. I've always wanted to be bigger and stronger, now I want to be healthier, but still can't get over the getting stronger part.

When I turned 40 I wanted to do 4 plates (405) on bench, barely missed, so I got pissed and cut it back for a while, tried again at 41, same thing. But, honestly I've never done what it takes I guess besides creative and protein.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Girls get big muscles by taking steroids, not by lifting heavy weights and low reps.

Tone building LMAO

Scott Free, do what we say or you are doomed to failure.

My higher reps with lower weight is more for endurance than anything. I probably burn about the same amount of calories doing lower reps at higher weight as I do higher reps at lower weight.

Nah, I have a slow metabolism... but when I work out its going for broke every single time, I sincerely don't dick around, if I'm not sweating bullets by the end then it was a poor workout.

I try to do in 30 minutes what most people do in an hour, I might jog to warm up but after that its repetitive uphill/upstair sprints or standing in front of a picnic table flat footed and just jumping up onto the bench as many times as possible as quickly as possible until my lungs are about to implode then moving into some pushups, then walking til I catch my breath, then sprinting two phone poles ahead, then walking between two, then sprinting between another two, then stopping for some crunches etc.

No dicking around, like everyone else I just wanna get home and relax... so I bust ass through my workouts.

Spot on, he has no clue!

Luv, don't listen, keep up the weights however heavy you want to go. Health, training advice from a smoker?