Wimpy guy wants to tone up fast.

[SagaLore]

I'm 5'9", 184 lbs. My body fat is evenly distributed.

So...

I want to tone the front of my body, fast. I'm ashamed of my pectorals. My stomach is flabby. My arms and shoulders actually look ok but do need more definition.

And I want to tone them FAST without exhausting myself. I want a short and practical routine! I just don't have the time, motivation, or energy to do full gym workouts.



And just for extra info:

I'm currently eating 1 pack of multigrain oatmeal and 1 activia yogurt per morning. For lunch I eat just about anything. Dinner is either a bowl of brown rice, or a pb(smart balance)/blackberry preserves sandwich, or tuna fish sandwich. On weekends I'll have eggs and whole wheat toast instead for breakfast... So pretty much I try to keep up my fiber and probiotic intake with lean sources of protein.

About a year ago, I start walking on the treadmill... usually about 30 min. 10 min at 2mph, 10 min at 3, then 10 at 2 again. Then I worked up to 2, 3.5, 2... 2.5, 4, 2.5... 3, 4, 3. I stopped for awhile. Started back up a few weeks ago. Last night I did 3mph for 10min, 6 for 5min, 3 for 5min to cooldown. Getting up to 6 even for a short time was hardest I've been on my legs and breathing.

 

[crt1530]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
I want to have an athletic body without having to work for it and I want it to happen right away.

I have some magic beans for sale.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: crt1530

Originally posted by: SagaLore
I want to have an athletic body without having to work for it and I want it to happen right away.

I have some magic beans for sale.

Are they FDA approved?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Everybody WANTS to do the impossible, but that just can't happen. What you're going to need to do is put some effort in your workouts and such. Your body doesn't just tone for no reason. You're going to need to do more intense cardio than walking. Have you ever seen a distance runner? Stick and bones. You don't have to get to that, but more intense cardio trim the fat a bit. So find some cardio that you like (whether it be swimming, running, an elliptical)!

You're also going to need to lift to get what you want. It doesn't sound like you want to put a lot of effort into what you're doing or else I'd suggest the Max-OT bodybuilding routine that I'm doing right now. It's a 12 week program that consists of very heavy, low rep lifts. That's what will help you get a bigger chest, and will most likely help in defining the arms and shoulders. You have to realize that your body doesn't go through changes if it doesn't have to, so STRESS and EFFORT are required to change your body structure.

Lastly, I wanted to point out something. Usually, diet effects a great deal of how "tone" one is. I would suggest doing something like the Zone diet, which entails eating healthy and trying to eat non-processed foods.

Look into each of these on your own so you can find something you like. Good luck with your endeavor, and if you want the Max-OT program, just PM me.

 

[crt1530]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: crt1530

Originally posted by: SagaLore
I want to have an athletic body without having to work for it and I want it to happen right away.

I have some magic beans for sale.

Are they FDA approved?

Of course not. They're grown on Venus in the future after it was terraformed. They're shipped back in time and if we got the FDA involved, then the government would find out about our time machine and would steal our magic beans.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
You're also going to need to lift to get what you want. It doesn't sound like you want to put a lot of effort into what you're doing or else I'd suggest the Max-OT bodybuilding routine that I'm doing right now. It's a 12 week program that consists of very heavy, low rep lifts. That's what will help you get a bigger chest, and will most likely help in defining the arms and shoulders. You have to realize that your body doesn't go through changes if it doesn't have to, so STRESS and EFFORT are required to change your body structure.

Look into each of these on your own so you can find something you like. Good luck with your endeavor, and if you want the Max-OT program, just PM me.

Well... you're advocating a program you haven't finished... is this something you're selling? Or just something you found?

 

[Marty502]

You're gonna have to sweat a bit, man. There's no magic pills or secret routines that will transform you into Ronnie Coleman in a month.

You're gonna have to lift weights, and lift big. Plus a mild cardio routine, and an appropiate diet.

And get some proper running shoes if you're gonna use the treadmill; don't bust your knees like I did. Or use the stationary bike.

I don't know if this is appropriate, and mods please delete and slap my wrist if it isn't, but I'd recommend a visit to forum.bodybuilding.com. That's a huge source of information. You won't learn so much about what to do, compared to what NOT to do, which is even more important.

First step by now? Forget about the "wanna be big without effort and fast". It's gonna take time, patience, determination and discipline. But it can be done.

Good luck!

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Marty502
You're gonna have to sweat a bit, man. There's no magic pills or secret routines that will transform you into Ronnie Coleman in a month.

Listen to what I'm asking though... I don't want to be huge. I don't even want to be big. I just want definition. Thats aaaaall.

 

[crt1530]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Marty502
You're gonna have to sweat a bit, man. There's no magic pills or secret routines that will transform you into Ronnie Coleman in a month.

Listen to what I'm asking though... I don't want to be huge. I don't even want to be big. I just want definition. Thats aaaaall.

You should go for the "Christian Bale in The Machinist" look.

Check out those super-defined collar bones.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
You're also going to need to lift to get what you want. It doesn't sound like you want to put a lot of effort into what you're doing or else I'd suggest the Max-OT bodybuilding routine that I'm doing right now. It's a 12 week program that consists of very heavy, low rep lifts. That's what will help you get a bigger chest, and will most likely help in defining the arms and shoulders. You have to realize that your body doesn't go through changes if it doesn't have to, so STRESS and EFFORT are required to change your body structure.

Look into each of these on your own so you can find something you like. Good luck with your endeavor, and if you want the Max-OT program, just PM me.

Well... you're advocating a program you haven't finished... is this something you're selling? Or just something you found?

No, I'm not selling anything. It's a free program and I've been using it for 4 weeks now. I've gained 4 pounds of muscle. You said your chest was small and you wanted to get it bigger... Well, this is the solution.

Going for definition solely is a pretty vain goal, so you should research other websites to find some stuff out. If you want to learn functional strength and get your cardio into shape, PM me.

 

[paulxcook]

If you have nothing to define you won't get the definition you want. See the above Christian Bale reference.

I think you need to accept that if there was a quick and easy workout program that gave everyone an athletic actor/model body, most people wouldn't waste hours in the gym, they'd do whatever this mysterious low-effort, awesome results workout would be. Here's the big secret: there is no secret.

 

[BlackTigers]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: Marty502
You're gonna have to sweat a bit, man. There's no magic pills or secret routines that will transform you into Ronnie Coleman in a month.

Listen to what I'm asking though... I don't want to be huge. I don't even want to be big. I just want definition. Thats aaaaall.

Unless I'm mistaken, to get definition with no lifting constitutes a large loss in body fat percentage. To do that it'll take lots of cardio, and a strict diet. But even then, you'll look like a twig unless you put some muscle on by lifting.

 

[purbeast0]

im seriously wondering if this OP is a joke or not.

 

[Pugnax]

I hope this a joke...if not...there is no "magic" formula. You need to work at it. If I could just spend a few minutes at the gym and get the same results as 45 min to an hr..why would I bother?

You need to cut your daily calories until you are losing 1 lb/week, do HIIT (high intensity interval training) for cardio (elliptical, bike, swimming, running, I'd say elliptical may be the most effective), and get into a lifting routine. Rippletoe's guide is good (linked to in other threads here). You'll need to work at least the three main exercises: squat, deadlift, and bench.

If you don't have the time or motivation to workout, you don't deserve the results. I guess you could pay for plastic surgery.

 

[TecHNooB]

Fast in bodybuilding terms = 2 - 4 months.

And the only way you'll get actual definition is if you keep your diet ABSOLUTELY strict, perform consistent cardio (running, not walking), and workout your entire body (lifting). If you can't do these 3 things, then you'll have to take the slow pvssy route.. which is to eat 2 meals a day, walk, and have your body decay to your preferred bodyweight. You will never be toned without lifting.. unless toned to you means having a flat chest.

 

[soccerballtux]

I would cut out all those carbohydrates you're eating. Try to keep the carbs to fibrous foods-- vegetables, fruits, etc. Also, don't work out and eat right afterwords-- this won't help you lose fat. Let your workout be after your last meal of the day-- this will force your body to replenish the muscles with fats; ie drink nothing but water until morning when you have your breakfast.

I've been successful cutting the running out of my routine with the correct workout. Simply take 15 second breaks in between each set you do-- don't bother working a muscle until failure; just enough to burn up the phosphates. This works out to ~15-8-6/4-4/2 for me usually; with the 15 second breaks between the 15 and 8, 8 and 6/4, etc. Keeping the rest short (I used to do like 45seconds-1m or more if I was tired) basically trains both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Aerobic capacity is your sustained activity-- like the biking you were doing. Anaerobic is burst, like when sprinting. When you work out with short breaks inbetween each set, you're doing both at the same time-- you have a quick, continuous workout for 30 or so minutes, and during that 30 or so minutes you're training your capacity to expend energy and replenish it quickly (within 15-20 seconds). Actually, I haven't timed it exactly, but it may be closer to 20/25 minutes for me.

This has been working great for me as it trims you up and doesn't take the time that running does.

Also you expend a lot more calories in anaerobic training than when running/biking, and you save your joints. I basically see no reason for running/biking now that my routine is right and I'm not taking 1m breaks in between sets. The continuous burst/recharge 15s cycle keeps your heart pumping just as fast as if you were running. If you have trouble finishing a 15/8/4/2 (increasing the weight each set), decrease the starting weight until you can get through it. The key is to keep up the routine to keep up your heart rate (and build your aerobic capacity). You can increase the weight later once you have the routine.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
I would cut out all those carbohydrates you're eating. Try to keep the carbs to fibrous foods-- vegetables, fruits, etc. Also, don't work out and eat right afterwords-- this won't help you lose fat. Let your workout be after your last meal of the day-- this will force your body to replenish the muscles with fats; ie drink nothing but water until morning when you have your breakfast.

so are you recommending not giving his body protein after he lifts weights because his muscles will develop from his own body fat?

 

[soccerballtux]

To replenish the phosphates from the fat. This is a one time chance after working out to force your body to use your fats to re-energize your muscles. They have plenty of time and protein in the 2-3 days before your next workout to rebuild themselves. My breakfast is scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese and some green bell peppers mixed in. Lunch, again, is predominantly proteins with carbs coming from fibrous sources. Same with dinner. Your muscles have days to rebuild. Your body will not draw on fat reserves unless you force it to, and this is as easy a way as ever to do it.

 

[spamsk8r]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
I would cut out all those carbohydrates you're eating. Try to keep the carbs to fibrous foods-- vegetables, fruits, etc. Also, don't work out and eat right afterwords-- this won't help you lose fat. Let your workout be after your last meal of the day-- this will force your body to replenish the muscles with fats; ie drink nothing but water until morning when you have your breakfast.

I've been successful cutting the running out of my routine with the correct workout. Simply take 15 second breaks in between each set you do-- don't bother working a muscle until failure; just enough to burn up the phosphates. This works out to ~15-8-6/4-4/2 for me usually; with the 15 second breaks between the 15 and 8, 8 and 6/4, etc. Keeping the rest short (I used to do like 45seconds-1m or more if I was tired) basically trains both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Aerobic capacity is your sustained activity-- like the biking you were doing. Anaerobic is burst, like when sprinting. When you work out with short breaks inbetween each set, you're doing both at the same time-- you have a quick, continuous workout for 30 or so minutes, and during that 30 or so minutes you're training your capacity to expend energy and replenish it quickly (within 15-20 seconds). Actually, I haven't timed it exactly, but it may be closer to 20/25 minutes for me.

This has been working great for me as it trims you up and doesn't take the time that running does.

Also you expend a lot more calories in anaerobic training than when running/biking, and you save your joints. I basically see no reason for running/biking now that my routine is right and I'm not taking 1m breaks in between sets. The continuous burst/recharge 15s cycle keeps your heart pumping just as fast as if you were running. If you have trouble finishing a 15/8/4/2 (increasing the weight each set), decrease the starting weight until you can get through it. The key is to keep up the routine to keep up your heart rate (and build your aerobic capacity). You can increase the weight later once you have the routine.

I agree that eating less processed carbs is good. But recommending not eating after a workout because it will replenish the muscles with fats? That make no sense. That's not how the body works at all. The energy your muscles use is called glycogen, which is manufactured by the body from carbohydrates. It cannot be created from fat, and your muscles cannot use fat for fuel in that manner. Your liver can create glucose from fats if you are in a ketogenic state, which would provide a small amount of glycogen to the muscles, but you would have to eat almost no carbs to get into that state. Please do not post garbage like this, it only confuses people.

 

[spamsk8r]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
To replenish the phosphates from the fat. This is a one time chance after working out to force your body to use your fats to re-energize your muscles. They have plenty of time and protein in the 2-3 days before your next workout to rebuild themselves. My breakfast is scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese and some green bell peppers mixed in. Lunch, again, is predominantly proteins with carbs coming from fibrous sources. Same with dinner. Your muscles have days to rebuild. Your body will not draw on fat reserves unless you force it to, and this is as easy a way as ever to do it.

Also, your body does *not* store protein from prior days. Protein stays in your body for about 3-4 hours after a meal. In that time it is either used to rebuild your body (muscles, cells, etc. are all made of protein) or it is converted to fat. You cannot store protein to be used later.

 

[soccerballtux]

So ya where did I say the body stores protein? I said you work out, and then over the next 2-3 days it rebuilds the muscles.

Originally posted by: spamsk8r
I agree that eating less processed carbs is good. But recommending not eating after a workout because it will replenish the muscles with fats? That make no sense. That's not how the body works at all. The energy your muscles use is called glycogen, which is manufactured by the body from carbohydrates. It cannot be created from fat, and your muscles cannot use fat for fuel in that manner. Your liver can create glucose from fats if you are in a ketogenic state, which would provide a small amount of glycogen to the muscles, but you would have to eat almost no carbs to get into that state. Please do not post garbage like this, it only confuses people.

Yes, that is how your body burns fat. Nobody ever said it was easy. Your body has no carbohydrates to turn into glucose for energy, so it must turn to your fat reserves. Paraphrasing wikipedia:
1). Your carbs are low. The mitochondria in your liver break down the fats into Acetyl-CoA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenesis#Regulation, third point). This is the important part you have to force by not eating after you've worked out.
2). Fatty acid synthesis. Fatty acids are formed and released into the bloodstream. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthesis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthase)
3). Your muscles can ALSO burn these fatty acids! Num num, lots of energy! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F..._acid#Free_fatty_acids, third paragraph)
4). ???
5). Profit!

This is why drinking sports energy drinks right after working out is possibly the worst thing you could do if you're looking to lose weight. In the step1 wiki link, you never reach the stage where you're low on carbs and out of glucose, because you just replenished it with the sports drink.

You don't have to abide by this; for instance I'll do my work out and then take a 30 minute or so vigorous (more or less) walk to use up the released fatty acids before I go eat (a protein and vegetable rich dinner). Or if I don't have the time for a walk, then I make sure I ate my last meal before I went and worked out; ie work out ~8pm or something. Then I eat nothing and simply drink water until morning.

Either way; your muscles will rebuild themselves given 3 days, no matter what. Not eating protein afterword is not going to hurt the muscle rebuilding process much. But eating after working out WILL reduce (if not simply nullify) the amount of fat converted to fatty acids and released into the bloodstream. This is why there are plenty of strong guys but they all still have flab on them. They're not forcing the fatty acid generation and consumption; thus they build bulk, but never get very trim. (Well, I've seen plenty of guys like this, maybe you haven't.)

Working out doesn't have to be a huge 10 hour commitment per week; you just have to know what you're doing.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
So ya where did I say the body stores protein? I said you work out, and then over the next 2-3 days it rebuilds the muscles.

Originally posted by: spamsk8r
I agree that eating less processed carbs is good. But recommending not eating after a workout because it will replenish the muscles with fats? That make no sense. That's not how the body works at all. The energy your muscles use is called glycogen, which is manufactured by the body from carbohydrates. It cannot be created from fat, and your muscles cannot use fat for fuel in that manner. Your liver can create glucose from fats if you are in a ketogenic state, which would provide a small amount of glycogen to the muscles, but you would have to eat almost no carbs to get into that state. Please do not post garbage like this, it only confuses people.

Yes, that is how your body burns fat. Nobody ever said it was easy. Your body has no carbohydrates to turn into glucose for energy, so it must turn to your fat reserves. Paraphrasing wikipedia:
1). Your carbs are low. The mitochondria in your liver break down the fats into Acetyl-CoA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenesis#Regulation, third point). This is the important part you have to force by not eating after you've worked out.
2). Fatty acid synthesis. Fatty acids are formed and released into the bloodstream. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthesis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthase)
3). Your muscles can ALSO burn these fatty acids! Num num, lots of energy! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F..._acid#Free_fatty_acids, third paragraph)
4). ???
5). Profit!

This is why drinking sports energy drinks right after working out is possibly the worst thing you could do if you're looking to lose weight. In the step1 wiki link, you never reach the stage where you're low on carbs and out of glucose, because you just replenished it with the sports drink.

You don't have to abide by this; for instance I'll do my work out and then take a 30 minute or so vigorous (more or less) walk to use up the released fatty acids before I go eat (a protein and vegetable rich dinner). Or if I don't have the time for a walk, then I make sure I ate my last meal before I went and worked out; ie work out ~8pm or something. Then I eat nothing and simply drink water until morning.

Either way; your muscles will rebuild themselves given 3 days, no matter what. Not eating protein afterword is not going to hurt the muscle rebuilding process much. But eating after working out WILL reduce (if not simply nullify) the amount of fat converted to fatty acids and released into the bloodstream. This is why there are plenty of strong guys but they all still have flab on them. They're not forcing the fatty acid generation and consumption; thus they build bulk, but never get very trim. (Well, I've seen plenty of guys like this, maybe you haven't.)

Working out doesn't have to be a huge 10 hour commitment per week; you just have to know what you're doing.

No offense, man, but using wikipedia as your source for all of your info doesn't give you much credibility. Also, you said "They have plenty of time and protein in the 2-3 days before your next workout to rebuild themselves," which I'm sure is what spamsk8r was addressing. They don't have protein unless you give them protein, which you probably know, but poorly stated. Lastly, you mentioned nothing of a ketogenic state when speaking of the burning of fats. You also didn't state that you can take in a VERY restricted amount of carbs and that the transition from your body living as it does now to living using ketosis is an unpleasant one. I don't believe your solution is the solution for the OP, since he's looking for the most pleasant and least involved way to go about his goal. Keep these things in mind next time.

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
So ya where did I say the body stores protein? I said you work out, and then over the next 2-3 days it rebuilds the muscles.

Originally posted by: spamsk8r
I agree that eating less processed carbs is good. But recommending not eating after a workout because it will replenish the muscles with fats? That make no sense. That's not how the body works at all. The energy your muscles use is called glycogen, which is manufactured by the body from carbohydrates. It cannot be created from fat, and your muscles cannot use fat for fuel in that manner. Your liver can create glucose from fats if you are in a ketogenic state, which would provide a small amount of glycogen to the muscles, but you would have to eat almost no carbs to get into that state. Please do not post garbage like this, it only confuses people.

Yes, that is how your body burns fat. Nobody ever said it was easy. Your body has no carbohydrates to turn into glucose for energy, so it must turn to your fat reserves. Paraphrasing wikipedia:
1). Your carbs are low. The mitochondria in your liver break down the fats into Acetyl-CoA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenesis#Regulation, third point). This is the important part you have to force by not eating after you've worked out.
2). Fatty acid synthesis. Fatty acids are formed and released into the bloodstream. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthesis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthase)
3). Your muscles can ALSO burn these fatty acids! Num num, lots of energy! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F..._acid#Free_fatty_acids, third paragraph)
4). ???
5). Profit!

This is why drinking sports energy drinks right after working out is possibly the worst thing you could do if you're looking to lose weight. In the step1 wiki link, you never reach the stage where you're low on carbs and out of glucose, because you just replenished it with the sports drink.

You don't have to abide by this; for instance I'll do my work out and then take a 30 minute or so vigorous (more or less) walk to use up the released fatty acids before I go eat (a protein and vegetable rich dinner). Or if I don't have the time for a walk, then I make sure I ate my last meal before I went and worked out; ie work out ~8pm or something. Then I eat nothing and simply drink water until morning.

Either way; your muscles will rebuild themselves given 3 days, no matter what. Not eating protein afterword is not going to hurt the muscle rebuilding process much. But eating after working out WILL reduce (if not simply nullify) the amount of fat converted to fatty acids and released into the bloodstream. This is why there are plenty of strong guys but they all still have flab on them. They're not forcing the fatty acid generation and consumption; thus they build bulk, but never get very trim. (Well, I've seen plenty of guys like this, maybe you haven't.)

Working out doesn't have to be a huge 10 hour commitment per week; you just have to know what you're doing.

No offense, man, but using wikipedia as your source for all of your info doesn't give you much credibility. Also, you said "They have plenty of time and protein in the 2-3 days before your next workout to rebuild themselves," which I'm sure is what spamsk8r was addressing. They don't have protein unless you give them protein, which you probably know, but poorly stated. Lastly, you mentioned nothing of a ketogenic state when speaking of the burning of fats. You also didn't state that you can take in a VERY restricted amount of carbs and that the transition from your body living as it does now to living using ketosis is an unpleasant one. I don't believe your solution is the solution for the OP, since he's looking for the most pleasant and least involved way to go about his goal. Keep these things in mind next time.

You're joking right? If there's one thing Wikipedia is good at, it's science and math related material. I think I'll trust those equations and summaries any day over somebody on anandtech who can't even provide counter sources, let alone check Encyc Brit to cross reference.

Also, if spamsk8r and you would have read both of my posts, and purbeast0's in between, you would have noticed the context. He said "so you recommend not eating/having protein after working out?" To which I continued with "this is the one time chance..." Sheesh it's like people on the internet don't even know how to read more than a paragraph at a time and see how they relate!

You're not even reading what I'm saying! It's not a VERY restricted amount of carbs, it's simply working out in such a way that at the end of the workout you've burnt off the free carbs and glucose you had to burn; and then letting the fatty acids replenish your muscles. Where did I say it's "living using ketosis"? It's simply using fat after you workout to replenish your energy and provide ATP for your cells through the night as opposed to eating again and having your body using carbs.

What you're basically saying is that you have to eat carbs and protein after working out.

Which is not going to trim the OP or anybody else up.

So, please describe exactly how else fat is to be burned, besides the normal metabolic process which I've described and sourced and yet for some reason isn't sufficient.

This is retarded; I'm done here. OP: I would suggest looking for workout info somewhere where people have a bit more interest in proving themselves with sources than here, where everybody simply seems interested in spouting opinions.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
So ya where did I say the body stores protein? I said you work out, and then over the next 2-3 days it rebuilds the muscles.

Originally posted by: spamsk8r
I agree that eating less processed carbs is good. But recommending not eating after a workout because it will replenish the muscles with fats? That make no sense. That's not how the body works at all. The energy your muscles use is called glycogen, which is manufactured by the body from carbohydrates. It cannot be created from fat, and your muscles cannot use fat for fuel in that manner. Your liver can create glucose from fats if you are in a ketogenic state, which would provide a small amount of glycogen to the muscles, but you would have to eat almost no carbs to get into that state. Please do not post garbage like this, it only confuses people.

Yes, that is how your body burns fat. Nobody ever said it was easy. Your body has no carbohydrates to turn into glucose for energy, so it must turn to your fat reserves. Paraphrasing wikipedia:
1). Your carbs are low. The mitochondria in your liver break down the fats into Acetyl-CoA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenesis#Regulation, third point). This is the important part you have to force by not eating after you've worked out.
2). Fatty acid synthesis. Fatty acids are formed and released into the bloodstream. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthesis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_synthase)
3). Your muscles can ALSO burn these fatty acids! Num num, lots of energy! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F..._acid#Free_fatty_acids, third paragraph)
4). ???
5). Profit!

This is why drinking sports energy drinks right after working out is possibly the worst thing you could do if you're looking to lose weight. In the step1 wiki link, you never reach the stage where you're low on carbs and out of glucose, because you just replenished it with the sports drink.

You don't have to abide by this; for instance I'll do my work out and then take a 30 minute or so vigorous (more or less) walk to use up the released fatty acids before I go eat (a protein and vegetable rich dinner). Or if I don't have the time for a walk, then I make sure I ate my last meal before I went and worked out; ie work out ~8pm or something. Then I eat nothing and simply drink water until morning.

Either way; your muscles will rebuild themselves given 3 days, no matter what. Not eating protein afterword is not going to hurt the muscle rebuilding process much. But eating after working out WILL reduce (if not simply nullify) the amount of fat converted to fatty acids and released into the bloodstream. This is why there are plenty of strong guys but they all still have flab on them. They're not forcing the fatty acid generation and consumption; thus they build bulk, but never get very trim. (Well, I've seen plenty of guys like this, maybe you haven't.)

Working out doesn't have to be a huge 10 hour commitment per week; you just have to know what you're doing.

No offense, man, but using wikipedia as your source for all of your info doesn't give you much credibility. Also, you said "They have plenty of time and protein in the 2-3 days before your next workout to rebuild themselves," which I'm sure is what spamsk8r was addressing. They don't have protein unless you give them protein, which you probably know, but poorly stated. Lastly, you mentioned nothing of a ketogenic state when speaking of the burning of fats. You also didn't state that you can take in a VERY restricted amount of carbs and that the transition from your body living as it does now to living using ketosis is an unpleasant one. I don't believe your solution is the solution for the OP, since he's looking for the most pleasant and least involved way to go about his goal. Keep these things in mind next time.

You're joking right? If there's one thing Wikipedia is good at, it's science and math related material. I think I'll trust those equations and summaries any day over somebody on anandtech who can't even provide counter sources, let alone check Encyc Brit to cross reference.

Also, if spamsk8r and you would have read both of my posts, and purbeast0's in between, you would have noticed the context. He said "so you recommend not eating/having protein after working out?" To which I continued with "this is the one time chance..." Sheesh it's like people on the internet don't even know how to read more than a paragraph at a time and see how they relate!

You're not even reading what I'm saying! It's not a VERY restricted amount of carbs, it's simply working out in such a way that at the end of the workout you've burnt off the free carbs and glucose you had to burn; and then letting the fatty acids replenish your muscles. Where did I say it's "living using ketosis"? It's simply using fat after you workout to replenish your energy and provide ATP for your cells through the night as opposed to eating again and having your body using carbs.

What you're basically saying is that you have to eat carbs and protein after working out.

Which is not going to trim the OP or anybody else up.

So, please describe exactly how else fat is to be burned, besides the normal metabolic process which I've described and sourced and yet for some reason isn't sufficient.

This is retarded; I'm done here. OP: I would suggest looking for workout info somewhere where people have a bit more interest in proving themselves with sources than here, where everybody simply seems interested in spouting opinions.

No, I'm not joking. Use a better source than wikipedia. That's a general rule of thumb. Also, what you described was the process of ketosis. If you were less vague, it would've been more obvious you were talking about the temporary process. Also, I never said ANYTHING about carbs OR protein right after a workout. In fact, I said nothing about food after a workout. I was talking about a diet in general and wtf did you get that I gave the X to fats? My diet has 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fats by caloric intake, which works great. I have no idea where you got those words to toss into my mouth. Perhaps it's you who needs to be more specific about the processes you're talking about and learn some better reading comprehension.

Summary for you OP: don't be lazy, go research stuff and do your thing.

 

[spamsk8r]

I think the problem here is a misunderstanding of what the other person is saying. I misunderstood soccerballtux to be saying that your body will use fat to rebuild muscles ("this will force your body to replenish the muscles with fats"), which is not the case, but he meant it uses fat to provide energy to the muscles, which is true. Also, I misunderstood him to be saying that your body will store enough protein to rebuild the muscles (which it doesn't) but he meant that throughout the next few days the protein consumed will be used to rebuild the muscles, which again is true.

SociallyChallenged I think conflated both soccerballtux and my posts to believe that soccerballtux was advocating a ketogenic diet, which was also not the case (although I don't presume to speak for either of them). So I think we are all mostly in agreement here, on the major points.

That being said, I don't really think having your workout after your last meal, or not eating after it will provide very much if any tangible benefit to fat loss. This is similar to my opinions on fasted cardio. While it may theoretically provide some benefit, it will be minimal at best and what's more important is to just go workout consistently. For the average joe trying to lose a couple of pounds these debates only complicate issues and don't provide anything of use.