Getting rid of belly fat - Am I doing it right?
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My first week of recording stuff in MFP had me below my target net daily calories by between 100 and 200 calories, and that net target was for losing 2lb per week. If this is the case then surely I must be doing something right?
I would have thought that if I'm doing better than my target than whatever it doing must be right. I'm probably not the best at explaining how different my regime is now to my past, but I did do a lot of calculations at the start and set a new regime that would give me a lot less calories per day than before, which included regular exercise.0 -
You can't choose where the weight comes off, unfortunately. I lost weight from all over, but the only reason now my legs are more toned and wobble less, is from weights.
Also, like someone else suggested - more protein. I don't know what you eat in the evening, but everything else is largely carbs that you're consuming.
Those breakfast biscuits are usually full of sugar, too.
Thank you - I'll definitely re-arrange my new plan to include more protein. Are there any foods that could help with this? My evening meals are usually a small portion of fresh fish with steamed veg, pork chops (with fat cut off) with steamed veg etc... Basically anything with steamed veg to try and ensure I'm getting my 5 a day.
Are there any 'quick but healthy' alternatives I could try for breakfast? I did try to get a low sugar pack, but they've still got sugar in.0 -
1. Genetics determines how your body loses fat. There's no way to target fat loss in a specific area. Some people lose it all over, some people in their belly, some in their thighs, etc. A measuring tape to measure inches lost and some progress pics will be your best friends. Also, weight loss takes time. You didn't gain it all in a month, so you won't lose it all in a month, either.
MFP and various other sources will tell you that a deficit of 3500 calories over the course of a week will make you lose one pound. Since you're not counting calories, you won't know what your true deficit is because gym machine calorie counts are notoriously inaccurate. Perhaps look into getting a pedometer or a heart rate monitor to give you more accurate info on your burns.
2. If you don't feel like eating in the morning, don't. Personally, I can barely function without breakfast, but some people aren't hungry until lunchtime. Eat when you are hungry- as long as you're hitting your calorie and macro goals, meal timing won't have much effect on weight loss.
3. Cardio is fantastic for building endurance, burning calories and therefore creating a deeper deficit, and improving cardiovascular health. Some people prefer lower impact cardio (swimming, elliptical, arc trainer) because it's easier on their joints. If you're running with poor form or old shoes, you could start experiencing joint pain if you overdo it.
That being said, weight lifting will make you look good naked. Look into Stronglifts, Starting Strength, or New Rules of Lifting for great programs. Those weight sessions usually only take about 20-30 minutes 3 times per week, leaving you plenty of time for 30 minutes or so of high intensity cardio on those nights and your regular cardio routine on the other nights.
Good luck!
Thank you for your very detailed post!
I'm aware belly fat can't be targeted, I'm just trying to figure out the best regime for me to get myself into so that I do eventually get rid of the belly, even if it takes time!
Sounds like I need to get weight training into my regime and eat more protein, but continue somewhere along the lines off what I'm doing now.
Thank you everyone!0 -
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.
500 less than what?
If you don't know how many you were eating before, you don't know that you're eating at a deficit now.
Before: regular snacks, huge meals, fizzy drinks, a midnight feast of crisps and chocolate every night, rare exercise, hardly any water.
After: breakfast biscuits, pasta pot lunch, small portioned evening meal, no snacks (and if I feel like a snack it's a piece of fruit), no fizzy drinks, plenty of water, almost daily exercis of approx. 500 calories burned.
My deficit is definitely at least 500, if not nearer to 1000.
It's great you've changed your diet but you STILL need to count calories. You need to weigh your food with a food scale so you accurately know how many calories you are putting into your body a day.0 -
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.
500 less than what?
If you don't know how many you were eating before, you don't know that you're eating at a deficit now.
Before: regular snacks, huge meals, fizzy drinks, a midnight feast of crisps and chocolate every night, rare exercise, hardly any water.
After: breakfast biscuits, pasta pot lunch, small portioned evening meal, no snacks (and if I feel like a snack it's a piece of fruit), no fizzy drinks, plenty of water, almost daily exercis of approx. 500 calories burned.
My deficit is definitely at least 500, if not nearer to 1000.
It's great you've changed your diet but you STILL need to count calories. You need to weigh your food with a food scale so you accurately know how many calories you are putting into your body a day.
+1 /thread0 -
Ok i read crisps so i figure your english so maybe this will help you understand that your only truly guesstimating at the minute and that at least track a couple of meals a day to get you on the right track,
packet of quavers ranges from 89 to 107 calories depending on if they are multi pack or not,
packet of mccoys beef crisps 225 calories eating what you are eating now at the calories your guesstimating,your going to start getting real hungry, real soon,real food is the way to go.
if your not english i apologise for presuming and you might not know what the hell quavers are! lol
even if your reading the calories properley, are they for 40g? 100g? do you know what 100g of meat looks like?
these things will all slow your progress.0 -
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.0 -
I'd like to try and clarify a couple of things about the calorie counting.
Saying I won't do it probably wasn't my smartest choice of words. I am aiming for 100 to 200 less per day than MFP recommends my daily net calories should be, and my initial calculations for my new regime works out to this. I presumed that being approximate but definitely remaining around my daily net calories target would be OK.
Most of you have suggested being extremely accurate about calorie counting and monitoring exactly how many calories go into my body - this will be extremely difficult given my work/family life (I don't even prepare my evening meals - my wife does this!) and lack of free time.
I'll try to start more accurately monitoring exactly what I'm eating, asding weight training to my exercise regime, and eating more protein.
I really do appreciate everyone's help.0 -
Ok i read crisps so i figure your english so maybe this will help you understand that your only truly guesstimating at the minute and that at least track a couple of meals a day to get you on the right track,
packet of quavers ranges from 89 to 107 calories depending on if they are multi pack or not,
packet of mccoys beef crisps 225 calories eating what you are eating now at the calories your guesstimating,your going to start getting real hungry, real soon,real food is the way to go.
if your not english i apologise for presuming and you might not know what the hell quavers are! lol
even if your reading the calories properley, are they for 40g? 100g? do you know what 100g of meat looks like?
these things will all slow your progress.
I am British :-)
Not counting calories was probably too strong - I do monitor them to make sure it's around my daily net calorie target but as others and yourself have mentioned I'm guesstimating so I'll try to measure more accurately.
I haven't had a bag of crisps in 3 weeks, but even if I did I know to choose the healthy option and make sure it's calories per bag rather than calories per 30g or whatever :-)0 -
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.0 -
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!0 -
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.0 -
I've added a profile picture - no laughing! :-)0
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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 luck0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
I think that the point is - how do you know?0
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I think that the point is - how do you know?
I've edited my post above.0 -
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!0 -
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.0
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