How to eat when dieting

[z1ggy]

UPDATE: Did the 5x5 workout A. Felt pretty weak, but that's b/c the last year has been so busy for me I haven't hit weights in about 11 months or so. Overall though I felt good. One comment though..I just don't see how this will burn fat. I never felt overly out of breath or having an elevated heart rate for more than 15 seconds or so.

Additionally, I didn't have much time to read into detail about this program. Do you start the weight high and then go a bit lower as you fatigue? That's what I assume and unless told otherwise, is what I will do next time. This first time I was experimenting with weight b/c I was unsure as to what I could do.

Bench, all sets of 5 w/ warmup before: 135, 145,145,150,150
Squat " ": 135, 185, 185, 185, 185
Barbell Row " ": 65,85,105,105,105

 

[SociallyChallenged]

The activity puts the body in a preferential state to maintain muscle. If you track your calories, as suggested in the fat loss sticky, you can make sure you're in a slight caloric deficit. The weightlifting puts your body in a state where more energy goes toward repairing the muscle than metabolizing it, due to the enzymatic and hormonal processes occurring. The calories you take in go toward repairing the muscle, and the rest of your required calories come from your fat stores. Therefore, muscle is maintained, fat is catabolized - hence, fat loss without muscle loss.

And no, the program is as us. The goal is to challenge the body in strength - not cardiovascular ability. You don't aim for fatigue or "the burn." You increase the weight by 5lbs each time you go in, which will allow for progressive gains and continued repair from the body. A lot of people have completed the advice in the fat loss sticky and all of them who actually stuck to it - tracking calories, getting in the gym consistently - lost significant amounts of fat.

 

[blackdogdeek]

The links the orig stick are dead, so I will just google "starting strength" on my own. Heading to the gym tonight for a bit to see if I can pound a workout in <60 mins.

Edit: So I found the 5x5 work out. Seems super simple. I also watched the bear complex work out on youtube, also looks simple and fun. Are there any ways to get like a list of those crossfit work outs to do so one can do them on their own? I don't know of any crossfit places around here, and I don't really have much weight around here, just the resistance bands I used for p90X.

this thread http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?p=426488 has a pdf with purely bodyweight workouts. the most equipment you need is a pullup bar, a jump rope and a set of rings.

 

[z1ggy]

The activity puts the body in a preferential state to maintain muscle. If you track your calories, as suggested in the fat loss sticky, you can make sure you're in a slight caloric deficit. The weightlifting puts your body in a state where more energy goes toward repairing the muscle than metabolizing it, due to the enzymatic and hormonal processes occurring. The calories you take in go toward repairing the muscle, and the rest of your required calories come from your fat stores. Therefore, muscle is maintained, fat is catabolized - hence, fat loss without muscle loss.

And no, the program is as us. The goal is to challenge the body in strength - not cardiovascular ability. You don't aim for fatigue or "the burn." You increase the weight by 5lbs each time you go in, which will allow for progressive gains and continued repair from the body. A lot of people have completed the advice in the fat loss sticky and all of them who actually stuck to it - tracking calories, getting in the gym consistently - lost significant amounts of fat.

Right.. ok cool, well I start this then. But to my question...Am I doing the highest weight first and obviously by set 4 or 5 I will not be as strong, so in order to get 5 reps, I will need to decrease weight, correct? And reps 4 and 5 of each set should be challenging?

 

[purbeast0]

I'm kind of experimenting right now with a short term diet before I go on my trip to vegas.

I had already leaned up a bit from 217 to 208 over the past 6-8 weeks or so, and I was just trying to see if I can do a real low carb diet during the week then do whatever on the weekend. i did that over 5 years ago (for like 4 weeks though) and I lost a NOTICEABLE amount of fat. but at that time I was only like 170lbs.

What I'm doing is just trying to eat between 30 and 40g of carbs a day, then eat a ton of protein and meats. my breakfast is just a protein shake, then for lunch I'm eating 2 polly o string cheese and home made chicken salad. i'm also getting some almonds to snack on if i get hungry after lunch.

then i get home and have another shake, workout, then have another shake. after that i eat some kind of meat (pork tenderloin, flank steak, or chicken breast) and eat a good portion of it. then i have one more shake before i go to bed.

i started this middle of last week and could only do it wed - friday, and this week so far i started it monday, but yesterday i ate 2 rolls with a burger and hotdog because my aunt died and the family was all together. aside from the rolls i probably had like 30g of carbs that day so i still kept it fairly low.

just in the short time i've been doing it i've definitely noticed a change around my abs and also on my lats when i am like just doing stuff to my hair in the morning when i wake up before work. so it's definitely working somewhat. i'm going to just do this until i go to vegas next thursday though, like i said kind of as an experiment, and see how it works for time being.

when i get back though i plan on just staying on the clean eating path i was on before, until i decide i want to bulk back up.

 

[z1ggy]

^ This is more or less what I am doing. However, I was not lifting. Now I am hitting the gym again. I am excited to see if the 5x5 program gives me results. I just need to get feed back as to if I am doing it right.

 

[purbeast0]

yea i lift pretty heavy 4 days a week and i'm doing a little bit of cardio 2x a week. like i'll do HIIT for about a mile (if that) or just run like 3/4 a mile.

when i did this before i lost more size/strength than I wanted, so that is why i'm making SURE that I get enough protein and food whlie doing it this time around.

 

[z1ggy]

^ I honestly find it hard to eat HEALTHY meals to get me up to the 2kcal I need. 4 protein shakes is only about ~800cal. Thats 1200 other cals I need from good sources. I am not a health expert, so I need advice/do reading to find the best foods to get those remaining cals in me. Right now its yogurt, turkey burkey, some whole grain bread and sometimes pasta, although it's not the wheat kind, so I stopped eating that when I found out it's bad for you.

 

[purbeast0]

there is a ton of information in the fat loss sticky about what foods are healthy to eat. they can get your calorie count up quite a bit too on just snacks, like nuts.

and right now since im low carbing, i am not using milk for my protein shakes. i put 2 scoops in (which is usual for my shakes, and 200 calories) plus some heavy whipping cream, which adds calories quickly (and with no carbs), and mix the rest with water. i'd guess my shakes have about 400 calories each, and i'm taking about 4 a day now. but i am also probably at around 3000 calories a day right now.

 

[z1ggy]

^ yeah I read the sticky very quickly. I also read on crossfit, something like 30&#37; protein, 40% carbs and 30% fats. So I took that into consideration and started using milk in my shakes. They have more carbs and cals in them this way, too. Not to mention tasting better. I think then I will go grab some nuts. However, I do worry about the sodium content. Which are the best? My favs are pistachios.

 

[Howard]

Right.. ok cool, well I start this then. But to my question...Am I doing the highest weight first and obviously by set 4 or 5 I will not be as strong, so in order to get 5 reps, I will need to decrease weight, correct? And reps 4 and 5 of each set should be challenging?

Start with the bar for all your exercises. The next day/workout, add 5 lbs.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Right.. ok cool, well I start this then. But to my question...Am I doing the highest weight first and obviously by set 4 or 5 I will not be as strong, so in order to get 5 reps, I will need to decrease weight, correct? And reps 4 and 5 of each set should be challenging?

Nope. You maintain the same weight for all 5 work sets. You may have to increase the rest period. Technically, as Howard stated, you're supposed to start the program with just the bar. I would start with a weight significantly lighter than what is your 5 rep max now though so you can build some strength in your connective tissue prior to stressing yourself vigorously.

 

[z1ggy]

^ The bar is way too light. I understand it's principle, but that is a waste of my time. I will just go with 135 then, seeing as I can get 5 reps pretty easy.

Didn't lift yesterday b/c I was still sore from Tuesday. Doing work out B tonight. I will prob just do the bar for shoulder press, seeing as that's a harder move for me, even though it will still be easy. I wish the gym had a diamond bar. I don't like doing dead lifts with the bar bell b/c there's no chalk and it slips once I get a lot of weight on there.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

^ The bar is way too light. I understand it's principle, but that is a waste of my time. I will just go with 135 then, seeing as I can get 5 reps pretty easy.

Didn't lift yesterday b/c I was still sore from Tuesday. Doing work out B tonight. I will prob just do the bar for shoulder press, seeing as that's a harder move for me, even though it will still be easy. I wish the gym had a diamond bar. I don't like doing dead lifts with the bar bell b/c there's no chalk and it slips once I get a lot of weight on there.

135 should be alright, especially if you can do 185. For the deadlift, just grab a couple of paper towels from the bathroom - that used to help grip for me. Also, you probably just need to improve your grip strength so just keep tryin

 

[z1ggy]

^^ Yeah I def. need more strength in my forearms if I am ever going to be able to dead lift 245 again. I sweat a lot in the hands, so that's why I need chalk. I will try the paper towel tho, thanks.

I started to track my calories, protein, carb and fat in take. I will have a better idea tonight as to what my daily diet looks like and will report back.

 

[CPA]

Zig, I hate to burst your bubble, but the guy who wrote Insanity has no clue how to focus something for weight loss. HIT actually doesn't work very well for fat loss due to its intense nature. It typically results in uncontrollable hunger, use of amino acids from muscle for digestion, and increased secretion of enzymes that promote limited muscle mass.

High reps of resistance training promotes catabolism of muscle, especially if you're in a caloric deficit. I think you're disillusioned about how long it takes to get through a weightlifting program. If you look at the fat loss sticky, I suggest Starting Strength or Stronglifts. You complete three large compound movements for three sets of five. You know how long that takes, including warmup? Probably less time than Insanity. I've seen a lot of people get it done in under 40min.

I'm also doing Insanity. Shawn promotes it more as a supplement for athletes than an actual weight-loss program. the TV marketing may do otherwise, but listening to Shawn, any weight loss is a bonus. He's more interested in conditioning, stamina and field performance.

 

[z1ggy]

^ Yeah I don't need that really anymore. My days of college sports are done with sadly. Now I just want to stay strong and trim the fat as best I can. Still wish I had the time to train my jiu jitsu/muy thai, etc. That was the most fun/best work outs I ever got.

 

[nixium]

I'm also doing Insanity. Shawn promotes it more as a supplement for athletes than an actual weight-loss program. the TV marketing may do otherwise, but listening to Shawn, any weight loss is a bonus. He's more interested in conditioning, stamina and field performance.

Well I'm a fatass now - well recovering-from-injuries fatass, so I'm really looking for just a routine to get into.

When I tried the barbell workout before, I had a huge difficulty in keeping regular. After trying P90 for a couple weeks, I haven't missed a single workout. Plus this stuff can be done when traveling as well. The only downside to P90 is that it's mind numbingly boring. Insanity is more fun (from what I've watched.)

So Insanity it is, for the next two months at least. Then I'll revisit.

Thinking about it, I'm less concerned about being fat than with the fact that I can barely do 10 pushups or run a mile. In any case, I feel if you reach those benchmarks, the fat loss will be automatic. Logically, you simply can't do 20+ pushups if you're too fat or too weak. Either you lose enough weight so that your muscles can push you up that many times, or build more muscle. Both of these are functions of your diet. So if I watch my diet and do insanity, I should be able to achieve the former.

The only thing I'm watching our for is over reaching myself. So "insanity" for me is going to be somewhat slow.

Once I get a solid core, good conditioning, stamina and endurance, I'll hit the barbells again.

 

[z1ggy]

^ Did insanity for 3 weeks. Didn't look or feel "Less fat" but I def. felt stronger. However, when I hit the weights this past week, I was no where as strong as to where I was last June/July when I was benching 205 3 reps. Could maybe get 165 3 reps now. Kind of sad.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Pretty funny, what made you decide to drink 4 protein shakes a day? i bet body builders dont drink that much =P haha

If you eat a good amount of protein you dont even need shakes and that is for lifting weights. But a high protein low carb diet will def help, cut the shakes out use the sticky at the top (i never read it but always see others saying to read it hehe)

Here is what i eat and i dropped 50 pounds with just cardio (my cardio was just p90x ab ripper and 7-10 miles on treadmill every single day) They also say you lose more weight with a weight lifting routine instead of cardio.. (even says that at the end of some them damn insanity work out vids haha)

breakfast
non fat Cottage cheese blueberrys banana with Cinnamon and honey (sometimes frosted shredded mini wheat)

Lunch
non fat Cottage cheese with fish and hot sauce (tuna fish and salmon rotating)

Dinner change it up alot but
Chicken tomatto's carrots non fat cottage cheese hot sauce salad

If im still hungry after breakfast lunch or dinner ill eat some hard boil eggs and snack on some peanut butter sometimes. Carrots too and mango's and milk 1&#37;

100 grams of whey is not the same as 100 grams of raw eggs, is not hte same as steak. Bioavailability is also an issue. How much of that protein the body absorbs is important and that is why whey is so popular. You can not beat it. The next best thing is cooked eggs. As a simple example, you would have to comsume 200 grams of raw egg to get the beneift of 100 grams of whey. Cooked eggs though are almost as good as whey. Maybe 5% less efficient.

From:
http://www.dsfacts.com/protein.html

Bioavailability of Protein Types:
whey blended products, BV 100-159
whey, BV 104
egg, BV 100
cow's milk, BV 91
egg white, BV 88
beef, BV 80
fish, BV 79
chicken, BV 77
casein, BV 77
soy, BV 74
potato, BV 71
rice, BV 59
wheat, BV 54
beans, BV 49
peanuts, BV 43


Oh wow. I think peanuts are going off my diet. Eggs are rated "100" because it was used as the baseline when bioavailability charting began. It was the best thing known at the time. Whey was dsicovered after the chart was first made, thus why it has a 100+ rating.

I've also read that you should not take in more than 30 grams of protein at a time. And that if you want to take in more, spread it out over time. Basically, one gram per minute so do 30 grams at 1 PM and another 30 at 1:30 PM. This is not proven to my knowledge!

Not saying to do only whey. Do a mix of things to bget a good mix for better overall nutrition. I have to get back on my horse though. 2 days of horrible eating have occured. 400 grams of carbs in 48 huors probably. That is the hard part.

 

[z1ggy]

^ The hard part for me is weekends. Eating mon-fri is super easy b/c I have a very set strict schedule that makes it pretty simple. Once sat and sunday hit... I just kind of snack around and then eat dinner. Seeing as how I am now lifting mon wed and friday, sat and sunday I dont get the protein I need probably b/c it kind of slips my mind since I am doing other things.

 

[blackdogdeek]

^ The hard part for me is weekends. Eating mon-fri is super easy b/c I have a very set strict schedule that makes it pretty simple. Once sat and sunday hit... I just kind of snack around and then eat dinner. Seeing as how I am now lifting mon wed and friday, sat and sunday I dont get the protein I need probably b/c it kind of slips my mind since I am doing other things.

stock your kitchen with protein-y snacks like hard-boiled eggs (make a dozen and leave them in the fridge) and beef jerky (just watch sodium content) and nuts.

 

[z1ggy]

^good idea. Will do that. It sucks I have a ton of boxes of pasta left I got in bulk at BJ's I need to eat. I am slowly getting rid of it..A handful or two every couple days.

PS- I think I may sort of use this thread to track my starting strength progress so maybe others can see what I did and if it's sucessfull. Also I can still ask questions and stuff once I hit plateaus.

Work out B:

Squat: 195, 195, 175, 175, 175 ( Next time will just start on 175, 195 too much.)
Overhead press: 60 x 5
Dead Lift: 135 (Pretty easy, but didn't want to kill the legs as they felt very tired)

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

4 shakes= 80g protein. How is that too much? I read , yes body builders need like 100% of their body weight in grams per day, so I halved that more or less since I am just doing the Insanity, and not power lifting. If I did not have the shakes, then the only protein I would eat would be 1 chicken breast, and that's not even everyday. Chicken is what 30-40g protein? that's barely anything. Insanity is aimed to cut fat, but you do tons of pushups and squats/jumping. I need the protein to fule my body if I am cutting carbs ( which so far I think I am doing OK at, but the pasta isn't helping.

I see the post about cottage cheese. I personally find it disdusting, so I won't be eating that. Maybe my metabolism is just slow since I am a bit older than a few years back when I actually was in good shape?? Probably doesn't help that I sit at a desk for 9 hours a day either.

Also, some article today on yahoo said salad is bad for you??? I assume its the dressing, but I put spinach and romaine in there, other veg, and balsamic vinegarette. The black kind. I thought that is basically just vinegar and a few other limited items..low cal, low fat. Is it high in sodium? I would just expect now after almost 3 full weeks of barely any junk food, eating better and doing the Insanity program that I would see a little difference.

are you mixing the powder with water only?
20g per shake is some weak ass protein.
it's usually ~25g per serving.

 

[z1ggy]

are you mixing the powder with water only?
20g per shake is some weak ass protein.
it's usually ~25g per serving.

Yes. Although I switched to milk now to add some more calories/carbs/protein. So now im almost at 30g a shake. I also switched from having a salad at lunch, to a turkey burger w / lettuce and tomato.