Starting the journey of fat loss.

JocelynDeshane

Hey guys, okay so I'm just starting my journey of fat loss and was wondering what you guys recommend for people who are just starting out on there journey.
I'm 5'7 and weigh over 160 ish my goal is to get down to 140-145 ish. But gain muscle in the process. Any advice on food recommendation or workouts or how to lose fat any information works!!

JocelynDeshane

ALSO I'm struggling okay so in reality we should be eating 6 small meals a day but idk what food groups to match up with what meal or how much of it so confusing!

nineteentwenty

If anything is unclear, please let me know. I love sharing recipes and will gladly help you form a more detailed diet plan if you like (based on what's working for me, I am not a trained dietitian).

Congrats on starting! Fat loss is tricky. First of all, it isn't easy or in any kind of straight line, and it took forever. I was around 146lbs when I began a while ago, and am now covering comfortably around 125lbs. You're gonna have jumps back and forth, and it's going to make you feel like crap. But keep going. Eventually, the trend will lead downwards instead of up, and that's what makes it worth it. So let's get started with the basics.

WEIGHT LOSS: Weight loss is matter of calories in vs calories out - you need to consume less energy than your body expends on a daily basis. Math. There is no secret, there is no magic food. Choosing "clean" foods will make you a healthier person and make you feel more energetic and alert (as well as save you from feelings like foodcoma and heartburn), but the ugly truth is that it comes down to calories. 700 calories of pizza and 700 calories of apples is exactly the same to the chemical processing in your body as far as gaining weight is concerned. This is why you see skinny people slamming beer and ice cream and it doesn't seem fair; they don't have magic bodies, they just watch the calorie content. This might mean they only eat a little bit of "bad" food, or it might mean they diet all the time and you're seeing them cut loose for once and have some fun. But even then, if you eat at a calorie deficit most of the time, one drop in a bucket of good habits will not affect you nearly as badly. So in order to lose weight, you must take control on your calorie intake. No way around it.

NUTRITION: While bad and good foods may not exist for the purpose of weight loss, they sure do if you wanna feel like a human. It's always better to choose "clean" foods for reasons of nutrition. If you have 500 calories left in the day and you blow it on cookies instead of eggs and fresh fruit, you have a higher chance of waking up cranky and tired. This means you'll have less energy for a workout and your body will crave more nutrients to make up for the cookie eaten in place of nutrient-rich food, which is what triggers you to binge. Lean meats, fresh plants, and foods high in vitamins and minerals will give you energy. Your body processes three kinds of macronutrients: proteins, fats, and carbs. You need all three, but watch your caloric intake. try and hit the macros provided for you by MFP, or adjust them later to hit a personal goal (for example, extra protien for muscle growth).

DIETING: The act of LOSING WEIGHT is done in the kitchen. Not the gym. You can chip away at your form in the gym and build muscles under your flab, but you won't make a lasting impact until you change the way you eat. However you're eating now is probably fine for your current shape, but if you wanna get thinner, you have to eat like a thinner person. This means that your current body will fight you, and you're going to have to win. Calories in, calories out. Eat less than you move, period. Your muscles won't shine through a 2" thick layer of fat, and the easiest way to get smaller is to eat less. Sure, you can burn off calories in the gym, but it's way easier to simply not eat 300 extra calories than it is to burn it off later. you burn less working out than you think you do, and it can be easy to overeat because you think you're "safe" from an earlier workout.

Other aspects of dieting include frequency and intensity. Three square meals may be more convenient, but it allows you to feel hungry for a few hours before your next meal. That makes you want more food in once place, which can lead to overeating. Try eating in 300-400cal meals 4-5x per day. Whatever fits your budget. Snacking is a great tool, it keeps your body happy and you won't be thinking about food all day. On a scale of 1-10 between stuffed and starving, you should never be below a 3 or over a 7. Stay in the "not hungry, but not bloated" zone.

EXERCISE: Working out makes a diet more effective and gives you muscles. When you have muscle, it's constantly burning calories simply by being a muscle instead of being a lump of fat. The more you have, the more you constantly burn. This is invaluable. Muscle will also give you the sleek, firm look you probably desire in a body (wanna get "toned"? that's tone). That will never happen through diet alone- if you simply diet without exercise, you'll be skinnyfat. A small person, but a flabby one with cellulite. If that's the look you're happy with, that is fine. But if you wish to be stronger and continue to burn calories just standing around, you're going to need to build muscle. Cardio will strengthen your heart, lungs, circulation, and give you a great muscle base. You'll be faster and leaner, and the act of existing will burn calories, giving you a larger calorie deficit and allowing you to eat a little more without giving up your goals. Weight training will make your whole body strong, and will give you a firm, smooth look. Weightlifting gives your body definition, and makes your skeleton stronger as well. A strong core (belly/thighs) needs weight training.

YOU:

First things first- finding how much food you should be eating! Your body has needs, and you gotta know. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure will tell you how much food your body needs to maintain its current shape. Click here to calculate your TDEE, and select "no exercise": http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html That number is how many calories your body burns per day just by doing your daily thing. It may vary slightly, but for the most part, it's a solid estimate.

Now, to determine how quickly you want to lose. If you'd like to ease in and lose at a slower pace, multiply that number by 0.9. If you'd like to go all in (which will be difficult, but quicker), multiply that number by 0.8. For example, my TDEE is 1700. So 1700x0.8 = 1360. That is how many calories I should be eating every day to lose weight at a good pace without starving myself or losing muscle along with fat. Your body will cannibalize your progress if you drop too low, so avoid that. Sure, one super low day is no biggie, but going too low for too long can make you cranky and your body may push you to binge, which can make you feel defeated and out of control. Find your happy place, stay there, and wait patiently. It may take a while, I didn't see losses right away either. Let your body bloat and scream and throw a tantrum (it will). You'll win in the end.

Let's see, you only need to lose like 20lbs? I say go protien-heavy and avoid sugar/carbs/sodium, because that's what's worked for me. Eggs, chicken, turkey, mixed nuts, veggies, peanut butter, etc. Instead of sandwiches, make a stir-fry. Get a bowl instead of a burrito at Chipotle. That kind of thing. As far as workouts, the best thing ever for a full-body tone is swimming. Do laps for 30-45 minutes and you'll be amazed at how quick you'll get a new body. if you cannot do that, I suggest endurance cardio and heavy lifting. Walk long distances at an incline at like 3-4mph on the treadmill instead of running. This will give you really firm legs AND a firm lower core (from the bellybutton down). Make sure you're working up a sweat, whatever you do.

NOW....log every single thing you put into your mouth. Butter, oil, sauces, drinks, foods, even zero calories stuff. It's a habit/awareness thing, don't think about not logging something because it's "not that bad". Half the battle is understanding what is happening to your body on a day to day basis before you can assess what's wrong with your methods. The MFP app helps me a lot, especially because of the barcode scanner. It's great on the go. Log it! And weigh your food. Weighing for portion sizes instead of using cups or eyeballing it is a million times more accurate. you could be eating twice the amount of food you think you are, which will mess with your plan.

SUMMARY: Calories are key to losing weight, exercise is key to a hotter body. Eating like crap and running a lot will keep you in a malnourished limbo where workouts are difficult and you never quite feel right. Eating "clean" is better for nutrition, and will clear up your skin. Eating "dirty" is fun, and as long as it fits your budget, is just fine. Keep your food choices widely varied so you don't get bored, and eat often in small bits so you never feel hungry enough to binge. And get some sleep. Happy hunting

TeraGC

Thank you for such a great response, I was looking for the same type of thing before I posted my question. Could you clarify something for me as far as work out/eating schedule. When should I be eating a pre-work out snack and what should it consist of. How quickly after a work out do I need to eat something and what is the best combo of protein/carbs for both of these.

nineteentwenty

tac_ur_it wrote: »

Thank you for such a great response, I was looking for the same type of thing before I posted my question. Could you clarify something for me as far as work out/eating schedule. When should I be eating a pre-work out snack and what should it consist of. How quickly after a work out do I need to eat something and what is the best combo of protein/carbs for both of these.

Aw shucks, I'm glad I could help.

That is entirely up to you and how you feel you best perform. I do not know your stats (height, goal weight, current weight, caloric intake, food allergies, meal plan, etc), so it is difficult to say.

As for eating before/after working out, that is also very personal. I know a guy who has very specific pre/post workout smoothie recopies, and I know some people that eat donuts. I myself work out at 6am, so I don't eat anything beforehand and don't typically eat breakfast until 9am. I tend to vomit if I have food in my stomach too close to a workout, but I know others who will pass out on the treadmill without some prep food.

The best thing to do is to try different things and see what works for you. The general word on the street is to eat light before a workout, like a banana or something, just so you don't feel sluggish or ill. After the workout, I will say I feel much better with some protien and potassium. My breakfast is turkey bacon, almonds, and coconut water after working out. Coconut water is amazing, it's like gatorade without all of the added sugar and calories. Very good for your body after working hard (and also GREAT for hangovers).

tillerstouch

There's some good advice above so I will just touch on the lose fat gain muscle.

Like what was said above the key to losing fat is having a calorie deficit. The thing with a calorie deficit though is that your body will also burn some muscle along with the fat. This is where strength training comes in. By following a progressive heavy lifting program your body will burn more fat less muscle. But as you lose fat and hopefully maintain muscle you'll start looking more "toned".

To really put on muscle you need a calorie surplus (you can't build muscle out of nothing). This is why people will start in a calories deficit to lose fat and during this deficit lift weights to maintain as much muscle as possible. Then once they hit the body fat % they want they go to a slight calorie surplus to start building more muscle.

You can decide what strength plan to do but I recommend following an already established one. There are tons on bodybuilding.com I would do one that utilizes compound lifts (bench, squat, deadline etc). If you don't like lifting/don't have access to weight you could do a body weight program instead.

I said for fat loss you need a deficit for muscle gain you need a surplus but there is an exception to this and that is recomp. A recompense is most effective for people who are new to weight lifting. It is a slow process where you eat just under maintenence say 100 calories under and you do lifting. During this time you'll gain muscle and lose fat slowly. The reason it is most effective for new lifters is typically when you are new to lifting you can gain muscle quickly even in a deficit.