JWA, I'd recommend a few things for now as a starting point:
DIET:
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Diet is the MOST important aspect of getting rid of the fat. You can train your ass off, but if your diet is not right, you really won't see the gains.
-Start a log of everything you eat.
-Drop your calories by about 300-400 every 2 weeks from your current level. Every drop will stimulate a new round of fat loss. It takes about 2 weeks for the body to adjust to the calorie drop with a decrease in metabolism(this is a genetic survival response to decreasing calories, that's why you want to step down)
-Cut out ALL simple carbs, including processed flour and sugars. This means NO pizza, pasta, instant products like potatoes, etc... Stay away from all sugar, this includes juices and most fruits. Simple carbs and sugars metabolize too quickly and create an insulin response (spike). High insulin levels send a message to your fat cells to "HOLD" or "STORE" fat only. Low insulin levels allow glucagon to tell fat cells to "RELEASE" fat for energy.
-Eat only complex carbs like veggies, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes... plus good fats like olive oil or flax seed oil (don't cook with these oils as the high temp ruins their good properties), and lots of lean protein.
-Eat 5-7 small meals through the day. This helps to turns-off your body's survival mechanism to hoard calories by decreasing metabolism.
-It's ok to cheat every so often, just don't make a habit of it. Remember, you are changing your lifestyle, not just going on a diet.
TRAINING:
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As your calories decrease, your body will respond with a diminished metabolism. Training is critical to maintain daily caloric expendature.
-4-5 training sessions/week for 1 hour each.
-For the first 6 months, do 30 min of weights then 30 min of cardio. The weight training will increase muscle mass. Increasing total muscle mass will increase your body's daily requirement for calories...this means you burn more calories at rest.
-Get a trainer at your gym to give you some ideas on exercises and personal coaching on how to do them right.
SUPPLEMENTATION:
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-Take a good multi-vitamin
-Take extra antioxidants
-Look into the various fat burners containing Ephedrine, caffein and aspirin. They will help you maintain overall metabolic rate while you diet.
RECOUPERATION:
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-on days off, be totally off and let your body recover
-If you start feeling run-down, take a day or two additional off, but don't take more than a few days off.
Hope this helps...it's basic stuff, but it's fundamental and proven.
