Few questions about fitness (diet, exercise)

[Arkitech]

I'm in my 5th week of eating healthier and execising, but so far I've only lost about 4 pounds. So I'm working on changing up my exercise routine and also making a few more changes in my diet.

First question, has anyone here had success eating negative calorie foods to lose weight?

What's the best exercises for burning off fat?

I need to buy more weights already, I'm already maxing out on my dumbells. I need to find a better set of dumbell weights with good grips and that I can easily change the amount of weight. Any suggestions?

 

[Riprorin]

I don't know what THE best excercise is but I ran everyday.

Went from ~175 - ~155 in about 7weeks.

What do you mean by "eating healthier"?

 

[Red Dawn]

So you lost just a little less than a pound a week over 5 weeks? Sounds like a good healthy rate of weight loss.

 

[Modeps]

If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

 

[StageLeft]

Don't worry about negative calorie foods, as they can't possibly make a significant portion of weight loss. If you've only lost four pounds in five weeks you've either put on a lot of muscle, which is unlikely (granted, your strength went up, but most people who start training with an eye to both gain muscle and lose fat will lose way more fat lbs than gain in muscle lbs), or you're eating too much. 5-6 small meals over the period of the day, with a significant overall calorie deficit. Make the meals good, all high in protein. I don't know what weight you are, but my maintenance calories are around 2600/day, or more, and when I want to lose weight I aim for 2000. I am hungry all day, but the weight flies off.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Modeps
If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

Yes, but it's good weight. Unless he's trying to meet weight class for wrestling, he wants that muscle badly, especially in a calorie reduced state, where the body will have a fun time cutting into protein for energy (ie. muscle). IMO if you're on a calorie reduced diet and can pick cardio OR weights, go with weights.

 

[Zebo]

Never diet. Run.

Start with 1-2 miles then work twards 4 should be your goal.

You run enough your body won't let you put crap in. It's a wierd thing. Taste buds change and more importantly you body chemisty and metabolism change in such a way that you're forced onto a deit. For example: Last week I went to Costco and has like 4 peices of pizza, really went on an all out junk fest; had some oreos after with milk too. Well Next morning after dragging my arse about a mile, hurting the whole time, really feeling it, I finally puked that crap out and learned (least for awile, cuz I'm hard headed) dont put the junk in. Most people are smarter than me though so they just eat sensibly when involved in a work-out routine. Comes natural.

 

[ribbon13]

Negative calorie foods. hahaha. Maybe ice water so your body has to generate more heat?

Originally posted by: Modeps
If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

Muscle mass takes energy to keep alive.

You goal shouldn't be weight loss, it should be a healthier body fat level.

 

[Sentinel]

Jogging & biking

 

[Riprorin]

My weight fluctuates 4 - 5 pounds with a day. Make sure to weigh yourself at the same time of day, ie. the first in the morning when you get up.

Two arguments against losing weight too fast are that you can lose muscle mass and you are less likely to keep the weight off. Neither were a problem in my case.

Personally, I'm impatient so I'd be very frustrated losing weight at your pace.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I don't know what THE best excercise is but I ran everyday.

Went from ~175 - ~155 in about 7weeks.

What do you mean by "eating healthier"?

Healthier as in more veggies, less bad fat and adding more lean protein

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
So you lost just a little less than a pound a week over 5 weeks? Sounds like a good healthy rate of weight loss.

I think that would be ok for a guy who's for the most part in good shape, but for a guy like me who needs to lose more than 50 pounds I need to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week.

 

[tami]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Negative calorie foods. hahaha. Maybe ice water so your body has to generate more heat?

Originally posted by: Modeps
If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

Muscle mass takes energy to keep alive.

You goal shouldn't be weight loss, it should be a healthier body fat level.

Average Posts Per Day: 79.34

have you slept since 2/1/2005?

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Modeps
If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

I gotta keep with the weights, I don't like I've had much of a workout during the week without lifting. Its a mental thing now, I really enjoy the weights.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: Modeps
If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

[Kyle's Mom]What what what?[/Kyle's Mom]

THE most effective way to burn more calories IS weight lifting. I do not know a SINGLE person who has weight trained to lose weight, and was mad because they gained muscle mass. The whole point of getting in shape is to gain muscle and lose fat. Trust me, by lifting weights, you will not turn into a muscle bound bohemoth.

Weight lifting is a very good cardiovascular exercise, with a huge advantage over regular cardio. You build muscle, which in turn, burn more calories in the long run.

Ever heard of the term "Skinny Fat"? That's what happens when an overweight person does all cardio to lose weight, then they are skinny, but left with no muscle to fill their skin back out. They are skinny, but are still fat in terms of their body fat percentage.

Now that That is out of the way...

Diet is the most important aspect of getting in shape. The general idea is to be at a calorie defecit, to lose fat. Eat less than you burn. If you are an average american male, you probably burn between 2500-3000 a day, without exercise. Add cardio and weight training, and you burn upwards of 4000 a day. Since 3500 calories = 1 pound of fat mass, if you are on a daily defecit of 500 calories, after a week, you should have lost 1 pound of fat.

The most tried and true ratio for calorie dispersion is 40-40-20. 40% of your calories should come from Carbs, 40% from Protein and 20% from Fat. 1g Protein = 4 calories, 1g Carb = 4 calories, 1g Fat = 9-10 calories. So for a daily diet of 2500 calories, you should consume 250g Carbs, 250g Protein, 50g Fat.

You also need to spread your meals out throughout the day. Eat 5-6 meals a day, and divide the calories among them. Most people eat 3 large meals a day, which is fine, just cut back on them a little in size, and add a small meal in between them. (pre-lunch, pre-dinner, snack before bed) Use the analogy of feeding a train coal. Give your body just enough to get to the next meal, then feed it again. Excess causes fat storage.

Another thing, FORGET ABOUT NEGATIVE CALORIE FOODS. They are worthless. A normal diet with a few veggies gets you enough minerals and vitamins

Ummm... ok, I am done typing. I need to get back to neffing.

Good luck!

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I don't know what THE best excercise is but I ran everyday.

Went from ~175 - ~155 in about 7weeks.

What do you mean by "eating healthier"?

Running is the best. He's lifting weights which does' just the opposite of shedding pounds, his stated goal.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Don't worry about negative calorie foods, as they can't possibly make a significant portion of weight loss. If you've only lost four pounds in five weeks you've either put on a lot of muscle, which is unlikely (granted, your strength went up, but most people who start training with an eye to both gain muscle and lose fat will lose way more fat lbs than gain in muscle lbs), or you're eating too much. 5-6 small meals over the period of the day, with a significant overall calorie deficit. Make the meals good, all high in protein. I don't know what weight you are, but my maintenance calories are around 2600/day, or more, and when I want to lose weight I aim for 2000. I am hungry all day, but the weight flies off.

I think my strength has went up pretty well, I feel MUCH stronger than I did 5 weeks ago. That's why I looking to add more weight to what I already have. As far as eating I need to clean up my diet a bit, its not bad but it could be better.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Never diet. Run.

Start with 1-2 miles then work twards 4 should be your goal.

You run enough your body won't let you put crap in. It's a wierd thing. Taste buds change and more importantly you body chemisty and metabolism change in such a way that you're forced onto a deit. For example: Last week I went to Costco and has like 4 peices of pizza, really went on an all out junk fest; had some oreos after with milk too. Well Next morning after dragging my arse about a mile, hurting the whole time, really feeling it, I finally puked that crap out and learned (least for awile, cuz I'm hard headed) dont put the junk in. Most people are smarter than me though so they just eat sensibly when involved in a work-out routine. Comes natural.

I definitely need to work on long distance running, I'm planning on doing a few miles this weekend.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Negative calorie foods. hahaha. Maybe ice water so your body has to generate more heat?

Originally posted by: Modeps
If you wanna burn calories and lose weight, dont lift. Lifting will increase muscle mass and make you heavier. Do lots of cardio activity, running, cycling, swimming, or eliptical. Low impact is my favorite due to my crappy knees. You've gotta keep your heartrate up.

Muscle mass takes energy to keep alive.

You goal shouldn't be weight loss, it should be a healthier body fat level.

I found this article on negative calorie (fat burning) foods. It sounds interesting and its healthy too so I'll try it out for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

 

[edro]

Oh yeah, and the best weight lifting exercises for burning fat are: Squats (whole leg/core) and Deadlifts (whole body).

 

[Riprorin]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I don't know what THE best excercise is but I ran everyday.

Went from ~175 - ~155 in about 7weeks.

What do you mean by "eating healthier"?

Healthier as in more veggies, less bad fat and adding more lean protein

Veggies are good.

The only bad fat is trans-fat. Among other things, fat comprises 40% of your brain and is a major component of cell membranes.

As a general guideline, cut out processed foods, sugar, white flour, and starchy fruits and vegetables as you should do fine.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: Zebo
Never diet. Run.

Start with 1-2 miles then work twards 4 should be your goal.

You run enough your body won't let you put crap in. It's a wierd thing. Taste buds change and more importantly you body chemisty and metabolism change in such a way that you're forced onto a deit. For example: Last week I went to Costco and has like 4 peices of pizza, really went on an all out junk fest; had some oreos after with milk too. Well Next morning after dragging my arse about a mile, hurting the whole time, really feeling it, I finally puked that crap out and learned (least for awile, cuz I'm hard headed) dont put the junk in. Most people are smarter than me though so they just eat sensibly when involved in a work-out routine. Comes natural.

I definitely need to work on long distance running, I'm planning on doing a few miles this weekend.

It really depends your body type too. I'm what called a mesomorpth, gain muscle easy, strong, and areobics like running have always been a severe challenge for me. So why not do what hardest for me I thought. It worked. I was 265lbs gym rat, weights were easy..been doing them since Jr HS.. nice girls, slow pace, indoors, anarobic, easy. Well after bout killing myself going for eight laps (2miles) I never relised pis poor shape I was in dispite "working out" every morning... after a year I dropped to 235 still have the same strength feel much better, sleep less. Bascically I'm convinced weights suck, for me at least. Need the whole body working and lungs and heart.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
So you lost just a little less than a pound a week over 5 weeks? Sounds like a good healthy rate of weight loss.

I think that would be ok for a guy who's for the most part in good shape, but for a guy like me who needs to lose more than 50 pounds I need to lose more than 1-2 pounds per week.

Most people that crash diet will gain it all back plus some extra. 1-2 pounds a weeks is a good goal.

 

[ribbon13]

If you have cash and the space for it, the Bow Flex is kick ass

Best fat is Omega-3. Avoid Omega-6 supplements because you should get more than enough through your regular diet. The better your body is at burning fat for fuel the better. Being adept at glucogenesis should be a prime goal, as it will offset the dangers of a high-protein diet. I reccomend you try to get your body in ketosis if you have that much weight to lose.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: Zebo
Never diet. Run.

Start with 1-2 miles then work twards 4 should be your goal.

You run enough your body won't let you put crap in. It's a wierd thing. Taste buds change and more importantly you body chemisty and metabolism change in such a way that you're forced onto a deit. For example: Last week I went to Costco and has like 4 peices of pizza, really went on an all out junk fest; had some oreos after with milk too. Well Next morning after dragging my arse about a mile, hurting the whole time, really feeling it, I finally puked that crap out and learned (least for awile, cuz I'm hard headed) dont put the junk in. Most people are smarter than me though so they just eat sensibly when involved in a work-out routine. Comes natural.

I definitely need to work on long distance running, I'm planning on doing a few miles this weekend.

It really depends your body type too. I'm what called a mesomorpth, gain muscle easy, strong, and areobics like running have always been a severe challenge for me. So why not do what hardest for me I thought. It worked. I was 265lbs gym rat, weights were easy..been doing them since Jr HS.. nice girls, slow pace, indoors, anarobic, easy. Well after bout killing myself going for eight laps (2miles) I never relised pis poor shape I was in dispite "working out" every morning... after a year I dropped to 235 still have the same strength feel much better, sleep less. Bascically I'm convinced weights suck, for me at least. Need the whole body working and lungs and heart.

Based on your description it sounds like I may be a mesomorpth body type as well. I seem to gain muscle fairly easy as well and I prefer sprinting over long distance running. I need to look into body types and what works best for them.