Fat loss - how to lose the bulge and gain the ripples

Mar 22, 2002
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Fat Loss - How to Lose the Bulge and Gain the Ripples (An AT special post!)

By Brent Sallee (SociallyChallenged)

Alright, everyone, I decided to write this article because I see a lot of the same questions over and over and over again. I figured the most logical action to take would be to toss a sticky up here addressing the essence of all these questions. Therefore, I'm going to address the topic of fat loss - nutrition, exercise, how to maintain muscle, how not to fail midway.

NUTRITION WHILE DIETING/CUTTING

This is the area that most ATer's have questions about. The simplest aspect of losing weight is that you have to be in a caloric deficit. The problem with many diets (or views of diets) is that people think they have to starve to get thin. This is completely wrong. If you don't eat enough, your metabolism dips and actually starts burning fewer calories. In essence, your body goes into a starvation mode, which tries to SAVE energy as much as possible (aka saving fat). The first thing you should do if you want to lose weight is look up your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is the amount of calories your body needs to function. You must be above, even if only slightly, this while dieting at all times or else your metabolism will crash. BMR is different from your caloric maintenance. BMR is the amount of calories required by the body to survive (not including locomotion, digestion, thought processes, exercise, etc). Caloric maintenance is the amount of calories required to maintain weight at one's particular activity levels (which DOES include all of an individual's daily activities). You need to be in between your BMR and you caloric maintenance to lose weight. This way you maintain your normal metabolism (compared to the crash you would experience if you dipped below your BMR), but are still in a caloric deficit (allowing you to lose weight). Only use the BMR section of the following link - ignore the "Total Energy Requirement" section. It's completely off base. Check out the link here.

Secondly, you need to use your newly found BMR and apply it to your diet. You want to keep a record of your diet because, even if you're eating the right foods but are eating TOO MUCH, you're still going to gain weight. There are websites that you can do this on, such as fitday.com or the nutrition section of sparkpeople.com (which I find has a larger database of foods). These sites will often tell you what % of your calories is coming from the 3 sources - either protein, fat, or carbohydrates. The source of your calories is very important.

During diets, you usually want to stay away from a high amount of carbs. Also you want to stay away from carbs that maintain a high glycemic index (GI). Carbohydrates that have a high GI are foods that create a strong insulin response. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that allows broken down carbs to enter the cell. However, it also signals fatty acids and amino acids to be stored. Maintaining smaller insulin spikes benefits dieters since it allows for less counteraction of the goal of weight loss. Some good carbs that have a low GI are whole grain breads, brown rice, oats, milk, whole wheat spaghetti, sweet potatoes, beans, etc. Check that list for foods and if you can't find if a food has a high GI, google it or ask here in the H&F forums. However, I would like to mention that the GI scale does have some problems. For example, steamed carrots have a very high GI, while pure fructose (a refined sugar that has such health detriments as diabetes, insulin resistance, and increased obesity as indicated by recent research) has little to no GI response. Use your own logic here.

Also, a specific mention about dietary fiber. Fiber comes in two forms: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber mainly bulks up to make you feel full and allow for smoother (but slower) conductance of food through your digestive system. Insoluble fiber increases transit time and keeps you "regular." Having a diet high in fiber frequently allows you to control satiety, as well as decrease your risk of many diseases (colon cancer, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, etc). In this thread, satiety is most important. Increasing the amount of fiber in your diet will make you feel fuller for a longer period of time. Some foods high in insoluble fiber are: anything crisp and/or leafy that comes from the ground. That means celery, lettuce, green beans, asparagus, seeds, nuts. Some foods high in soluble fiber tend to be starchier veggies like peas, beans, grains, etc.

Protein is also very important during a diet (along with weightlifting), especially if you're looking to maintain your muscle while losing the fat. Many suggest that you should try to get at least 1.0g of protein per 1 pound of lean muscle mass in your diet. It is perfectly ok to get more in your diet and maybe even a little less, but just make sure your body has a constant supply of protein to repair and maintain your muscles with. I'll mention this later in more detail, but you really must lift if you want to maintain your muscle mass while dieting and losing fat. You don't wanna diet and work hard and just end up being a skinny fat guy.

Lastly, let's talk about fats. Fats, especially in America, have always been a sort of taboo. They're not the devil, I promise. However, there are certain fats that are healthier than others. Although your body does need saturated fats, those are usually found in most meats, cheeses, and butter. They're easy to get into your diet. The best fats for you are monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids polyunsaturated fats (which reduce inflammation and have other health benefits). Sources of monounsaturated fats are olives, olive oil, peanut butter, nuts, avocados, etc. Sources of omega-3 fatty acids are usually fish. I highly recommend grabbing some enteric-coated fish oil capsules since it's the easiest way to get some very healthy fats. Here's a link to the benefits of fish oils. Also, when you eat fats, they slow your digestion. This makes you feel more satiated and will let you eat less. Picture them as sort of the "anti-carb." Polyunsaturated fats are still under some debate, but your body needs some of them as well. Polyunsaturated fats have been found to break up into free radicals and may potentially create a greater spike in bad cholesterol than saturated fats. But everything in moderation is the key here.

Ok, now to tie the 3 sources of nutrition together. There is some debate as to what percentage of calories should come from what in your diet. Personally, I have cut using a 40% fat/40% protein/20% carb diet. My brother has cut on a 30% fat/30% protein/40% carb diet. I would say to use the latter since cutting a ton of carbs out of our diet is fairly difficult. Keep in mind, this is NOT by grams, but by calories. That's essential since fats contain 9 calories per gram, while protein and carbs contain 4 calories per gram. Having 30% of your calories come from fat allows your body to slow digestion a bit and lets you feel much less hungry. If you're doing it right, you should feel slight to no hunger with this %. 30% protein is important to muscle maintenance. Protein is digested more slowly than carbs as well so ingesting it results in a increased duration and degree of satiety. The 40% carbs lets your body restore your glycogen stores and supplies your body with necessary energy. Carbs aren't bad, but you want to limit them for hunger's sake while cutting/dieting.

Here is a general list of good things to eat. This is by no means a limiting factor and there are some other great foods. This just helps with creativity for meals and for some people who don't know what's healthy and what's not. This was posted at the musculardevelopment forums, I think, however I'm not sure. Whoever made it saved me a lot of work though, so be appreciative to them :)

Protein

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Tuna (water packed)
Fish (salmon, seabass, halibut, sushi, mahi mahi, Orange roughi, tilapia, Sardines)
Shrimp
Extra Lean Ground Beef or Ground Round (92-96%)
Venison
Buffalo
Ostrich
Protein Powder (Whey, Casein, Soy, Egg)
Eggs
Low or Non-Fat Cottage cheese, Ricotta
Low fat or Non fat Yogurt
Ribeye Steaks or Roast
Top Round Steaks or Roast (stew meat, London broil, Stir fry)
Top Sirloin (Sirloin Top Butt)
Beef Tenderloin (filet mignon)
Top Loin (NY Strip Steak)
Flank Steak (Stir Fry, Fajitas)
Eye of Round (Cube meat, Stew meat, Bottom Round)
Ground Turkey, Turkey Breast slices or cutlets (*no deli or sandwich meats)

Complex Carbs (nothing enriched, bleached or processed if possible)

Oatmeal (Old fashioned, Quick oats, Irish steal cut)
Sweet Potatoes, Yams
Beans (Black eyed, Pinto, Red, Kidney, Black)
Oat Bran Cereal, Grape nuts, Rye cereal, Multi grain hot cereal
Farin (Cream of wheat)
Whole Wheat frozen Bagels, Pitas
Whole wheat or Spinach Pasta, Whey Pasta
Rice (Brown, white, jasmin, basmiti, arborio, wild)
Potatoes (red, white, baking)

Fibrous Carbs

Green Leafy lettuce (red, green, romaine)
Broccoli
Asparagus
String Beans
Spinach
Bell Pepers (Green or Red)
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Celery
Cucumber
Carrots
Eggplant
Onions
Pumpkin
Garlic
Tomatoes
Zucchini

Fruit (If acceptable on diet)
bananas, oranges, apples, grapefruit, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lemons or limes

Healthy Fats

Natural Style Peanut Butter
Olive oil, Safflower oil
Flaxseed oil
Fish Oil
Nuts (peanuts, almonds, walnuts)

Dairy

Eggs
Cottage cheese
Milk
Yogurt

EXERCISE WHILE DIETING/CUTTING

The goal while dieting is not to lose both fat and muscle weight, but only fat weight. In doing so, you have to do some sort of resistance training. This resistance training will allow you to maintain your lean muscle mass (and potentially increase it slightly) while losing fat mass. To maintain your muscle mass, it is optimal to do a low rep, high weight type of workout. These workouts under bulking conditions would cause you to grow, but since your body is dealing with less energy than normal, its job is to maintain. A good lifting program should consist of compounds lifts (squats, deadlift, rows, pullups, chinups, bench press, etc. Google compound lifts). Compound lifts are beneficial due to their utilization of several muscle groups at a time, their development of stabilizing muscles, and their real world functionality. Often times, people will revolve their workout plan around upper body alone. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. To get strong, be in shape, and lose weight, you must utilize compounds movements that will utilize upper body, back, and lower body on a regular basis. When you lift for your legs and back, your body creates the biggest hormone response that will promote muscle growth. Essentially, people need to squat for big arms. These programs are good examples of what I've said: Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe- it's worth buying the book, Stronglifts 5x5 beginner program, or one could even do Crossfit for both resistance and cardio training - they have a free workout every day, so if you have a gym or weights, you can do it. This leads me into what kind of cardio you should do.

Cardio, while dieting and cutting, can be of any intensity, in reality. To directly prevent muscle loss, high or medium intensity aerobic exercise is suggested, but low steady state cardio is fine as well if you can get some protein in you as soon as you're done. Crossfit utilizes high intensity cardio and really gets both aerobic and anaerobic workouts out of the way, if you have access to the tools for it. High intensity interval training is the most common form of cardio for this and can be done with almost anything - running, swimming, weightlifting, using an elliptical, running up stairs, rowing, etc (look up Tabatas if you want an insane high intensity workout). Usually you want to do a set amount of time of high intensity work and then rest for 2-3x the amount of the work time. For example, you could do 30 seconds of work and then rest for 60 seconds. If you're new to it and have trouble with that, you may rest a bit longer, but the less rest you can take, the better. Usually, for beginners, you should just continue doing rounds until you can't any longer. I say this because people are all in different sorts of shapes and setting an impossible number of rounds as a goal will be discouraging. As you get better, you can increase the amount of rounds you can do and you can decrease the rest time. Also, as a sidenote, if you consider yourself largely overweight for your height, this may very well be too much for your body and heart to handle. Instead, you can start with some walking or jogging. If you're at this point, jog and walk as much as you can. Start with walking a mile each day and then try to increase either your speed or distance (or both even). When you hit a point that you've lost some weight and feel like you are ready for the next step, ease into HIIT.

In this original post, I said that high intensity training is the best way to go. However, it is potentially dangerous for those people who have no exercised in a very long time. It is also demotivating since it really lets you know how out of shape you are (even for those who aren't in that bad of shape). To correct this, I suggest working up to them over several weeks' time. You can do a medium intensity cardio exercise for a slightly longer amount of time with or without intervals. This could entail something like running 800m repeats with a 3-5 minute break in between runs until you don't want to do it anymore. It could also entail things like rowing, swimming, biking, etc. What I will say though is that you should probably not do too much long, endurance cardio. This tends to conflict with goals in losing weight while keeping muscle.

Perhaps the most important aspect of losing weight is learning how to incorporate everything into your daily life. Often times, people jump into a massive change in diet and exercise and find themselves binge eating, giving up, losing confidence, or altogether stopping. To prevent this, you should try to bring each aspect you want to change in one at a time. For example, clean up your eating first. Get your macro %'s in tune, make sure you're in a caloric deficit but above your BMR, make sure you're eating veggies and fruits, and make sure you're looking for things you're doing incorrectly so you can fix them. It's not going to come all in one day. It's a learning process, so take your time in acquainting yourself with a new way of eating. I would suggest taking several weeks to equilibrate and to get into the habit of eating right. Next bring in exercise into your routine. Get started on a lifting program and explore the weight room. Research the exercises and how to do them (form is IMPORTANT!) before you go to the gym. If your form is off, especially when lifting heavy, you can injure yourself. Don't start with a massively heavy weight. Just get acquainted with it. If it feels too light, raise it. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. You want the set to be hard, but not impossible. Be slightly cautious at first, but learn to push the limits of your strength. If you raise your weights 5 pounds a week on most compound lifts, you'll be progressing nicely. At this point, if you feel like you're getting the hang of things, introduce the high intensity training (if you want to. It is not necessary for weight loss). This may be disappointing at first, but, heck, I was a sprinter for 4 years and I tried to hop into HIIT sprint training and it kicked my butt. I could do half of what my goal was. That's why I say go in and do as many rounds as you can and try to improve each time you do it. You usually wanna do HIIT 2-3 times a week max since your body will already be getting worked plenty by weight training.

I think that's really all I have to say about fat loss. I was going to incorporate a muscle gain tutorial, but I realized nearly the exact same plan applies. The only difference is you must be in a caloric surplus, meaning you're eating over your caloric requirement.

Let me know what you think about the thread/article and I'll edit it as it comes along. Thanks for reading and if I left out anything, feel free to add to it!

Special thanks to:

brikis98
KoolDrew


For a first-hand account on losing weight, refer to brikis' blog post on how he lost 43 pounds in 8 months. I hope this brings a realism and encouragement to everybody's progress.
 
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brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
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excellent work! I think this kind of thing will really help people out.

From an initial glance, the only thing I would really suggest you change is to elaborate on the resistance training a bit more. A lot of people come in here and ask us to critique their routines. The majority of the time, the routines they come up with are, to say the least, less than optimal. They use somewhat random numbers of sets and reps, do too many isolation exercises, focus too much on "pretty muscles" (chest, abs, biceps) and ignore the key areas, such as back and legs. I personally believe it's *essential*, especially for beginners, to follow a routine developed by professional strength trainers (e.g. Rippetoe) and not something they come up with themselves. I think it would be a good idea to *really emphasize* how important it is for them to follow the more popular professionally developed routines out there, including the ones you mentioned. The Rippetoe Starting Strength routine has a really good writeup here (which includes videos showing how to do the exercises). For more advanced lifters, the Bill Star 5x5 program is also worth consideration - there's an intermediate version and an advanced version.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Originally posted by: brikis98
excellent work! I think this kind of thing will really help people out.

From an initial glance, the only thing I would really suggest you change is to elaborate on the resistance training a bit more. A lot of people come in here and ask us to critique their routines. The majority of the time, the routines they come up with are, to say the least, less than optimal. They use somewhat random numbers of sets and reps, do too many isolation exercises, focus too much on "pretty muscles" (chest, abs, biceps) and ignore the key areas, such as back and legs. I personally believe it's *essential*, especially for beginners, to follow a routine developed by professional strength trainers (e.g. Rippetoe) and not something they come up with themselves. I think it would be a good idea to *really emphasize* how important it is for them to follow the more popular professionally developed routines out there, including the ones you mentioned. The Rippetoe Starting Strength routine has a really good writeup here (which includes videos showing how to do the exercises). For more advanced lifters, the Bill Star 5x5 program is also worth consideration - there's an intermediate version and an advanced version.

Thanks a ton. I only posted things that utilize great compound movements, but I will explicitly mention the importance of compound movements and not just lifting for upper body. I thought that would be assumed by the selection I offered, but I do forget sometimes that people don't know these things. Thanks again for the input!

EDIT: Updated with suggested info.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Originally posted by: KoolDrew
I would mention HIIT would not be advisable for the really overweight.

Agreed. I contemplated adding that, but wanted to aim toward the general population. Thanks though, I'm adding that now.

EDIT: Added. Good call though, man, I didn't consider that. Also, what do you think about the article as a whole? Just looking for some feedback :)
 

brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
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been thinking a bit more... i'd wager that roughly half the ppl on the health and fitness forum are trying to lose fat and the other half are trying to gain muscle. Your thread addresses most of the key points for both, but the title and organization make it look like it only focuses on weight loss. With some simple reorganization, you could make this sticky more general and universally appealing. Since almost all the tips you already have apply to those trying to gain or lose weight, you could do something like:

1. Give the guide a more general name (e.g. "Socially's guide to building muscle and losing fat").
2. Reorder your content into new sections:

Section 1: Diet basics: discuss calories, carbs, proteins, fats, vitamins, fish oil, etc.
Section 2: Dieting to lose fat vs building muscle: discuss what a healthy calorie deficit/surplus is, carb, protein and fat ratios, and how much protein you need.
Section 3: Discuss cardio: "regular" cardio vs. HIIT, how much to do when trying to lose fat or build muscle.
Section 4: Discuss resistance training: why you need it when doing both bulking or cutting, why you should use a professionally designed routine, why you shouldn't neglect your back/legs.

Since you have all the information already, it's just a matter of cut + paste and some nice bold section headers and you get a great guide for the majority of the people that use this forum.

Again, great job on the guide so far :)
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I just wanted to get the sticky up ASAP because I know how badly it's needed. I had finals and then I was on spring break, so I just did what I could get to. I'll update it this coming week since I'm only getting adjusted to classes for the quarter. It won't take much time at all.
 

KoolDrew

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
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Also, what do you think about the article as a whole?

It's a good start, and definitely something we needed here.

However, I would like to see the guide a bit more individualized. Things are not always as black and white as many people make them out to be. Choosing steady state cardio over HIIT in some situations is just one example. Others have to do with diet. Some people perform better on low carbs, some don't. I'd also like to see stuff about the advantages of free meals, refeeds, and even full diet breaks. Many people who are really overweight may be dieting for quite a while before they reach their goal. Splitting it up so they get a scheduled 2 week break every 6-8 weeks or so would be a much easier way to go about it rather than dieting straight until they reach their goal. Having a "cheat meal" every week can help as well. Mentioning structured refeeds which are would be a good idea as well for thinner athletes where muscle tissue breakdown will be more of a problem. Diet breaks and refeeds (depends how large of a refeed) will have physiological advantages as well. Reversing metabolic slowdown, glycogen repletion, etc. Obviously the thinner you are the more frequent you should have refeeds and diet breaks.

I like how you mentioned taking things one step at a time rather than making a complete change overnight, but maybe you could expand on this idea a little further? Just keep in mind, the most important aspect when dieting is being able to stick to it so allowing the dieter to be a bit more flexible is definitely better, as long as it doesn't hurt progress. Most people thing they're diet needs to be perfect or they fail. They have that one cookie and think their diet is ruined and then end up eating the whole thing. That's why I don't like the idea of pretty much telling people what to do when dieting. Then they feel if they don't do it that way, they're going to fail. It's important for them to find out what works for them. One example is tracking calories. It definitely gives the dieter a better idea about what they're eating. However, asking a severely overweight guy who sits on the couch all day and drinks 12 cokes a day is unnecessary and they probably would fail trying to do so. Instead if that person simply become a little more active (hell, for some people a bit more walking around would be a huge improvement) and just cutting down on soda would have a improvement on health and body composition. If switching to water is too much to ask at first, switch to diet coke and decreasing intake. Not the best solution, but it's a change and will definitely have an impact. After that having the person eat more lean protein and veggies would have an impact. Then eventually I'd move them into tracking calories when I think they're ready and will benefit from it. Meaning they eat rather healthy already and are a bit active. Pretty much my aim is simplicity. If things can be kept simple, they should be kept simple.

I may have more to add later, but that's all for now.
 

brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
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oh, almost forgot: put up a disclaimer at the top. Something along the lines of "this does not reflect AT's official stance, this is just the opinion of Socially (with comments from other AT members), use at YOUR OWN RISK"
 
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DAPUNISHER

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I suggest adding the "beginners" supplement flow chart jpg Drew posted. I have found it very useful/helpful, and I'm certain others would too.
 
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Mar 22, 2002
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Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
I suggest adding the "beginners" supplement flow chart jpg Drew posted. I have found it very useful/helpful, and I'm certain others would too.

Actually, I won't do that in this thread. There are a couple of reasons: 1) I don't want people to think that they HAVE to use supplements to get results. They aren't necessary, although they can help. I should mention a multivitamin somewhere. 2) I don't necessarily agree that some of those things should be used (i.e. pre-workout energizer) since they utilize stimulants. Thank you for the suggestion, but I won't add that chart to my article simply because this article maintains my opinion, which I will put in the topic summary like suggested.

I see where you're coming from KoolDrew, and I'll incorporate the cheat meal/week off info soon, but I'm not quite sure I can individualize the article. The article, as a whole, is meant to be a general guide on how to lose weight. There's no way I can cover everyone's circumstances and I won't try since I haven't experienced all of them. I mention HIIT since it is the type of cardio that will allow the user to maintain muscle mass the best. That is the goal of my article. It's hard to encompass everyone, so I tried to hit the average guy on AT. I didn't address the morbidly obese or heavier than normal person.

I'm not sure if I can write an article for them since I do not have experience with that experience. If anyone HAS had experience with this, etc, I would be willing to talk to you about writing an addendum so as to speak to the uncommon person I'm excluding.
 
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neodyn55

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Questions!

I've read on some websites that after you calculate your BMR, your total intake should be aimed toward maintaining your target weight. To elaborate, lets say your weight X's BMR is Y. You want to get to weight X2. Therefore, you should consume enough calories Y2 < Y. Is this true? You mention that you have to consume just above your BMR.

In my workout, I have 3 days of strength training, and 3 alternate days of light cardio. I wrap up my strength training sessions with a 10 minute jog, where my HR is about 160-170 (160 is my aerobic threshold). On the mild cardio days, my HR is about 140-150. Is this a recipe for overwork, or am I doing it right? After reading your post, it seems like it might be wise to drop the 10 minute jog session on the weight training days. What do you think?

Lastly, you mention HIIT is a good choice for fat loss and maintaining muscle. However, if you do HIIT on alternate days to weight training, wouldn't that lead to over training?

Thanks for this excellent resource! I've already pointed three of my friends - who were really lost with this all the nutrition information that you can find across the web - here, and they found it really informative. It was a very nice move to consolidate all the information available here, and I appreciate your informative posts (and the mods decision to make this a sticky)

 
Mar 22, 2002
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Thanks neodyn. Let me answer your questions as best as I can. I'm fairly sure what you're saying is if you want to get to your goal weight, you should take in approximately the goal weight's BMR calories. If this isn't right, let me know, but let me move on in case I am. Your body hasn't reached that BMR yet. If you eat at your current BMR, you will be in a caloric deficit. Imagine how many calories you're burning that have to come from your fat stores - walking, talking, working, running, lifting, everything. You will burn enough calories to lose fat fairly quickly, but if you drop your calories more than your current BMR, your metabolism will dip and you'll actually stop burning those calories.

To me, it seems like you're using the mild cardio days as active recovery. This is smart and will almost always benefit you. I would actually probably do the HIIT twice a week instead of the jog after your lifting. So I would probably do HIIT on Monday and Friday to replace the jogging after lifting, and would continue to do those light jog days to keep the juices flowin' and to prevent soreness and such. I would probably reduce the jogging to 2 times a week so you can have a full 2 days off. Six days a week is still pretty tough on the body and I would suggest having 2 days off, especially if you're lifting heavy.

Well, you know what would actually work nicely? If you did your workout every other day, 3x a week and then did HIIT on the days in between, 2x a week. That would allow you to have 2 full days off and you would stay well rested. However, you should definitely try to listen to your body to see if you start feeling worn down. If you do, try to space out the HIIT workouts differently. Maybe do HIIT after your lifting on Monday and then do only HIIT on Thursday. HIIT is perfectly fine to do on lifting days, but make sure to do it AFTER you weightlift so you can still apply yourself to the lifts. HIIT workouts don't have to be long. In fact, they're often relatively brief, so you will be tired, but it won't consume all that much time. Also, be sure to stretch or warmup before HIIT so you don't pull anything.

I just thought it'd be nice to get something up that some can benefit from. Glad to see that you enjoy it :)
 

DanInPhilly

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Jan 18, 2008
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I would suggest starting with this simple regimen:
-eliminate (or cut back drastically) on sweets: candy, desserts
-eliminate (or cut back drastically) on fatty starches: potato chips, corn chips
And do more exercise than you're doing now.

I think that emcompasses 90% of the OP.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Originally posted by: DanInPhilly
I would suggest starting with this simple regimen:
-eliminate (or cut back drastically) on sweets: candy, desserts
-eliminate (or cut back drastically) on fatty starches: potato chips, corn chips
And do more exercise than you're doing now.

I think that emcompasses 90% of the OP.

Not quite. You can cut back all your want, but you need to make sure you're getting much more of other things. On top of that, you have to know the amounts you're taking in, have some macro %s for comparison, etc. It's not quite as simple as you say or else there would be more people staying thin, I assure you. Too much good food will still make you fat.
 

NewSc2

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Apr 21, 2002
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I would add in using a Multivitamin to your guide (even though it's been discussed in this thread). I've found it to be pretty essential -- a lot of people get at least some of their nutrients from breads and fruit juices, and limiting those carb sources limits some vitamin intake. Also, vitamins are needed for building muscle and staying healthy.

If anything, I'd say your guide is a little bit wordy, or at least needs a summary somewhere. The advice I give my colleagues and friends when they ask me is:

"Eat mainly lean meat and veggies; cut out junk food. Only drink water, try to target 1 gallon per day.
Lift weights - focus on squats, bench, deadlift, pullup, and shoulder press. Start low, with just the bar.
Do 30 min. of cardio, 3-4 times a week."

It covers 95% of what they need to know.

EDIT: I've been bodybuilding for about 5 years, on and off.
 
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Mar 22, 2002
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Originally posted by: NewSc2
I would add in using a Multivitamin to your guide (even though it's been discussed in this thread). I've found it to be pretty essential -- a lot of people get at least some of their nutrients from breads and fruit juices, and limiting those carb sources limits some vitamin intake. Also, vitamins are needed for building muscle and staying healthy.

If anything, I'd say your guide is a little bit wordy, or at least needs a summary somewhere. The advice I give my colleagues and friends when they ask me is:

"Eat mainly lean meat and veggies; cut out junk food. Only drink water, try to target 1 gallon per day.
Lift weights - focus on squats, bench, deadlift, pullup, and shoulder press. Start low, with just the bar.
Do 30 min. of cardio, 3-4 times a week."

It covers 95% of what they need to know.

EDIT: I've been bodybuilding for about 5 years, on and off.

Well, the problem is that I'm looking to give people optimal results, not just a list of things that will work. I want them to live their life and get the results they want. Some people have different philosophies. Mine is based on getting optimal results the natural way. The things you're saying are good, but I think there are things you're missing. You can say cut out junk food, but if people are still eating too much food, your plan fails. If they're doing low intensity cardio, they're gonna lose muscle. You see what I mean?
 
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spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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quick question regarding the calories burned using Fitday.com....when using an elliptical for about 45 minutes, the machine displays a calorie count of around 550 (I entered my age and weight) and my polar displays a calorie count of nearly 600 (my gender, age, weight and height are entered there as well).

If I pick Running 6.7 mph (which there is no way I am averaging that - it is probably closer to 5.5), it says I burn 405 calories...

any ideas for this rather large (IMO) discrepancy?? should I pick a higher speed that gets me closer to 550 calories burned?
 
Mar 22, 2002
10,484
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81
Originally posted by: spacejamz
quick question regarding the calories burned using Fitday.com....when using an elliptical for about 45 minutes, the machine displays a calorie count of around 550 (I entered my age and weight) and my polar displays a calorie count of nearly 600 (my gender, age, weight and height are entered there as well).

If I pick Running 6.7 mph (which there is no way I am averaging that - it is probably closer to 5.5), it says I burn 405 calories...

any ideas for this rather large (IMO) discrepancy?? should I pick a higher speed that gets me closer to 550 calories burned?

A lot of those machines have different readings and are not quite as accurate as you may like. Fifty calories difference isn't gonna make that much of a difference. Just push your personal envelope and you will be alright. The approximations are fine for both, whichever you decide to use.
 

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,781
1,386
126
Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Originally posted by: spacejamz
quick question regarding the calories burned using Fitday.com....when using an elliptical for about 45 minutes, the machine displays a calorie count of around 550 (I entered my age and weight) and my polar displays a calorie count of nearly 600 (my gender, age, weight and height are entered there as well).

If I pick Running 6.7 mph (which there is no way I am averaging that - it is probably closer to 5.5), it says I burn 405 calories...

any ideas for this rather large (IMO) discrepancy?? should I pick a higher speed that gets me closer to 550 calories burned?

A lot of those machines have different readings and are not quite as accurate as you may like. Fifty calories difference isn't gonna make that much of a difference. Just push your personal envelope and you will be alright. The approximations are fine for both, whichever you decide to use.

The machine and heart rate monitor were close (off by 50) but the Fitday.com site was way lower. This is what I was questioning since running at 6.7 MPH is more exhausting than running on an elliptical but yet is nearly 200 calories less on the fitday.com site?

That doesn't make sense.
 
Mar 22, 2002
10,484
31
81
Originally posted by: spacejamz
Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Originally posted by: spacejamz
quick question regarding the calories burned using Fitday.com....when using an elliptical for about 45 minutes, the machine displays a calorie count of around 550 (I entered my age and weight) and my polar displays a calorie count of nearly 600 (my gender, age, weight and height are entered there as well).

If I pick Running 6.7 mph (which there is no way I am averaging that - it is probably closer to 5.5), it says I burn 405 calories...

any ideas for this rather large (IMO) discrepancy?? should I pick a higher speed that gets me closer to 550 calories burned?

A lot of those machines have different readings and are not quite as accurate as you may like. Fifty calories difference isn't gonna make that much of a difference. Just push your personal envelope and you will be alright. The approximations are fine for both, whichever you decide to use.

The machine and heart rate monitor were close (off by 50) but the Fitday.com site was way lower. This is what I was questioning since running at 6.7 MPH is more exhausting than running on an elliptical but yet is nearly 200 calories less on the fitday.com site?

That doesn't make sense.

Both machines or one machine may be off. I'm partial to running since it's functional and usually burns more calories per time. Use whichever you're more comfortable with. If you do some HIIT, you will burn way more calories throughout the day than just how many you burn while running since it will boost your metabolism quite a bit. You can do that with either the elliptical or running and you can be sure to burn the amount of calories you're looking for.