Getting rid of belly fat - Am I doing it right?

liampotter27

1. I cannot see as much weight loss as I would have expected given the dramatic reduction in calories and massive increase in exercise. I've read that weight loss will be all over my body, before attempting to even out by taking fat from where it is most - is this true? And if so, how long (given my new regime) will it be before I can expect to see results?

Your body loses where it loses- the only thing you can do is work towards lowering your overall body fat. How long before you can expect results? The healthy weight loss range is 1-2 lbs of fat per week. If you look pregnant, I would gather you want to lose something like 40 lbs so give yourself at least 5 months to do that. You may lose faster at first, and slower later.

2. I've read that the breakfast biscuits (or any breakfast for that matter) helps to kick-start your metabolism in the morning. Is this true? And if so, what is the benefit of this and is there an ideal time to eat breakfast?

I think it doesn't matter when you eat. If you wake up not hungry, don't force yourself to eat based on some myth that this will impact your metabolism. Metabolism will be lowered by your body weight lowering and it will be raised by exercise- I think given you need to do both those things, you're wasting time worrying about metabolism. What you should be focused on is calories in vs. calories out- maybe you won't count calories and I think given how much weight you have to lose (based on your description of being male and looking pregnant) eyeballing it at this time is probably ok as long as you are certain you aren't starving yourself (because based on what you have said, that would actually be the concern that you are netting too few calories which will result in you giving up).

3. I currently go to the gym between 8 and 9pm (after my evening meal) and do the treadmill for 45 mins (300-400 calories), then the stepper for 15 mins (200-300 calories). Sometimes I do the rower for 10 mins (150 calories) to warm up and reduce the treadmill time accordingly. Is there an ideal time to do the gym session? And could my time be better used with the equipment (e.g. more stepper, less treadmill)?

The idea time is the time you will go. The ideal equipment is the equipment you will use.

To throw in a few other thoughts I have: when people who are very overweight begin to lose, as I did, it makes sense to just do whatever you can make a habit. As you get closer to your "goal weight" you may find your goals change- imagine you have lost that 40 lbs, you have habitualized healthy eating habits to the point of planning healthy meals without feeling like you are denying yourself anything, you have habituatlized exercise to the point where if you don't do it, you feel bad (by this I mean as in "i really WANTED to go! My legs need to run!" as opposed to "i'm such a fat lazy slob who didn't go")... At this point, you may decide to have new goals - perhaps building muscle. That might be a time when you decide you want to focus on macros and do different types of exercise. That's basically wht happend with me.

Thank you! I was definitely cautious about the whole kick-starting the metabolism idea but thought I'd give it a go. Haven't noticed any benefit and don't really get hungry at breakfast so might quit having it again, and just have a piece of fruit mid-morning if I start to feel peckish.

I'll see if I can upload a picture, even if it's just to my profile, to give people an idea of my shape at the minute - I really do look pregnant!

liampotter27

I don't even prepare my evening meals - my wife does this!

My husband made my dinner last night, he was happy to tell me what was in it so I could accurately track. I used to make that excuse too, then I realized it was just an excuse.

Would you at least consider tracking for a week, just to see if your guesstimates are even close? You might be, but you could also be way out in left field.

My evening meals used to be things like spaghetti bolognese, stir fries, takeaways etc. Now they are a piece of meat, or fish, with steamed veg. No complex ingredients so no need to ask for ingredients. :-)

The overall concensus is that I should stop guesstimating so will try to more accurately monitor my in/out calories in future.

liampotter27

I've added a profile picture - no laughing! :-)

amcook4

I don't even prepare my evening meals - my wife does this!

My husband made my dinner last night, he was happy to tell me what was in it so I could accurately track. I used to make that excuse too, then I realized it was just an excuse.

Would you at least consider tracking for a week, just to see if your guesstimates are even close? You might be, but you could also be way out in left field.

My evening meals used to be things like spaghetti bolognese, stir fries, takeaways etc. Now they are a piece of meat, or fish, with steamed veg. No complex ingredients so no need to ask for ingredients. :-)

The overall concensus is that I should stop guesstimating so will try to more accurately monitor my in/out calories in future.

That actually sounds incredibly easy to track, weigh your fish or chicken, and for the veg either weigh it or go by volume. Super easy.
Best of luck

logg1e

No one should be laughing - I for one admire your bravery and honesty.

But seriously, your refusal to count calories is a bit odd and probably what put people off replying at first, given that it's exactly what you need to do. You said you were eating 2500+ per day. You eat about 500 calories less now, and you exercise off about 500 calories some days. MFP says you need to eat 1400 calories to lose weight. That means on the best of days (eating no more than 2500 and getting your hour's exercise in) you're eating a 100 calorie surplus.

liampotter27

No one should be laughing - I for one admire your bravery and honesty.

But seriously, your refusal to count calories is a bit odd and probably what put people off replying at first, given that it's exactly what you need to do. You said you were eating 2500+ per day. You eat about 500 calories less now, and you exercise off about 500 calories some days. MFP says you need to eat 1400 calories to lose weight. That means on the best of days (eating no more than 2500 and getting your hour's exercise in) you're eating a 100 calorie surplus.

Thank you. I've since corrected myself, it's likely nearer 1000 calories less going in per day then I used to consume.

Edit - MFP says my net (after eating AND exercise) should be 1400 to lose 2lb per week. I'm actually net-ing around 1200 to 1300 at present from the calculations I made of my new regime. I'm definitely going to be more strict with my calorie counting now though.

logg1e

I think that the point is - how do you know?

liampotter27

I think that the point is - how do you know?

I've edited my post above.

ZombieEarhart

You've written a lot about time restraints, I just want to point a few things out:

Logging, at most, takes 5-10 minutes all together for the whole day. The more you do it, the faster it is as you build up a personal history or create meals and recipes. You spent more time than that today just explaining why you don't count calories.

Lifting takes less time than cardio. If you start with something like Stronglifts (a free program you can google) it takes about 30 minutes. You could cut your time in half at the gym, and for cardio maybe take an evening walk with the wife and kids

Good luck!

AllOutof_Bubblegum

EDIT - I would just like to add that I will not spend time calorie counting. I'm now just more aware of how many calories I am consuming so I can consume responsibly. I am also going to quit smoking as soon as possible, but having failed on 4 previous attempts it will be difficult. It is most definitely making my gym sessions difficult!

uhm, then you will never achieve what you want.

If you want to lose weight.
You need to know how many calories you are consuming.
And how many calories you actually need.

So if you are not gonna put in the time and energy to log and track what you eat.....
Then don't bother doing this.

I only say I'm not calorie counting because I know I am eating at least 500 calories less per day than I used to, and I'm also burning off 500 with almost daily exercise. I'm not calorie counting to an exact science but I'm definitely aware of roughly how many I am eating so that it is consistently 500 or so less per day.

How do you "know" how many calories you're eating/burning? Are you counting the calories in your food?

No?

Are you wearing a heart rate monitor to track your burns accurately?

No?

Then you do not "know". At best you are making vague, sweeping guesses, and that is the fastest way to get you nowhere with your weight loss. start tracking accurately, and consistently, and you will see results.

Supergirl9801

Since no one's mentioned this as well, calorie burn estimates are usually way off. I typically (and most on here) only eat back half my exercise calories (if you're tracking them). I understand the idea of counting calories seems tedious. I haven't for the last couple weeks and I'm still losing weight. However I was very meticulous about it for a while and weighed (not just measured, b/c that can be WAY off) EVERYTHING and was surprised to find how off many things were. Even food labels that tell you the approximate weight of a serving and how many servings something is can be off by up to 20%! So, I would at least track religiously for a couple weeks to get a better gauge. You are obviously doing something right though, cause you're losing weight.

Some protein ideas. EGGS...seriously, load up on them in the morning, hard boil them for a snack. Tuna's good too, jerky, avacado, nuts (although they're high in calories).

ashley11scott

Your eating to many calories. At each snack/meal think where is my protien!

For bk i eat egg whites 4 -6 of them with green veggies!

Counting calories takes 10mins a day and now that iv been tracking a while it takes me like 3mins to log the whole day. Hardest thing was learning portions so i got cup sized tubs so i know how many cups of each food im eating.

good luck my friend but my advice is counting caloriors on MFP and tracking calorie burn with fitbit or another calorie tracker that suits you.

its easy to hit the gym the hardest part is what YOU put in UR mouth.