I went from morbidly obese to 6 pack abs! Ask me Anything

Fivefootcaloriecounter wrote: »

Can I still loose weight if I eat at my maintenance but do body pump 3 calories week and not eat back the exercise calories"

Yes, but it would be pretty slow. I'm not sure how long a bodypump session is or how many calories one can burn (whatever their marketing/website tells you is probably an exaggeration) but it's probably not a ton in the context of a full week. The vast majority of people are unable to lose weight effectively through exercise alone. Some endurance athletes can but they are the exception. The other issue is eating maintenance. It sounds simple but it requires a very accurate degree of calorie counting as it leaves no "wiggle room". With a calorie deficit + exercise you can think of the exercise calories as your wiggle room for logging inaccuracies, incorrect nutritional information, free meals, estimating calories from eating out, etc. With only exercise to rely on you must make sure most everything you eat is prepared by you, weighed on a scale, and has accurate information. Free/cheat meals will be difficult and eating out will also be hard. If your goal is not extreme and you aren't in any real rush to achieve it you can attempt what you are asking about and see how it goes. If you find weight loss is too slow or doesn't occur, I'd subtract some calories in addition to the workouts.

CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

Hi Vismal. Wondering if you saw my question earlier about fast(er) weight loss? I included a link and wanted your thoughts. Apologies if I missed it?!?

Sorry, your question was at the top of the page and I must have missed it. I am usually not a fan of rapid weight loss strategies. The biggest problem is with compliance. Most people simply fail at utilizing a very low level of calories. I personally can't do it for more than 2 weeks. That being said, for someone 5'2 and 137 lbs 1190 calories isn't anything I'd consider as very low or rapid weight loss levels of calories. I usually advise people to eat around 9-10 calories per lb they weigh to cause weight loss and your calorie goal falls right below that target. How many calories are you currently eating and how long has it been since any weight loss has occurred?

marianjr wrote: »

My husband lost 50lbs his stomach is almost flat. He wants to work in his 6 pack.Since in the one who prepares his meals I want to get an idea of how much I should be feeding him.His job is really physical and he works out 4-6 days a week . What range in calories and grams of carbohydrates did you consume?

This depends on his goal. Is he still trying to lose more fat to expose his abdominal muscles or is he trying to gain build his muscles?

Horsepital wrote: »

Hi Vismal, thanks so much for taking all the time you do to answer people's questions. You've been doing it for so long now and I really appreciate that you've stuck it out for so long. I've got a couple of questions for you:

How do you find the time to work out, what with your new baby and other responsibilities? How long/and how often are your workouts? I'm a single guy with a pretty demanding job and while for the last couple of weeks I've been able to carve out an hour or two a day, it's really taking a lot of attention to make it happen. I'm pretty new to working out, so I'm hoping it just becomes normal soon. I can only imagine it being more difficult as changes in my work and social life happen....

I just want to make sure I'm counting calories right when I make a recipe (like a soup or a casserole for instance). Easy example, the filling for tacos: I took a pound of ground turkey (820 calories), 12 oz yellow onion (60 calories) and 12 oz roasted green chilies (145 calories). Total cooked weight = 32 oz. So if the total number of calories combined is 1025 do you just weigh out the mix and calculate from that? (ie an 8 oz portion is 257 calories)

Thanks again!

You simply have to make the time. I have trained anywhere from high volume 6x a week for an hour + per session to as little as 3x per week at 35-45 minutes per session. Currently I am doing a low volume program that can be done in about 45 minutes 3x a week due to having quite a bit on my plate. Once I finish grad school I will probably transition to 4 days a week but 3 is perfectly appropriate. Those new to working out do fine on 3 day a week total body programs. If you need one that doesn't take a very long time, the Greyskull LP is a good choice. 2.5-3 hours per week isn't really all that much time. I would sooner shave off 3 hours of sleep per week then miss my workouts. As far as your calorie counting of a dish, yes, that will work fine.

saintor1 wrote: »

Thanks for the trendweight.com tip.

At work I use mobile averages extensively and I am now pleased that I found something to automatically process my weight as a mobile average through my wi-fi body scale.

Yes, I love the site!

CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

Thank you for your response. I've lost about two pounds - 135.2 - in about 6 weeks. My goal is 125-128. Ultimate "I'm in heaven weight" is 120, but I realize I'm obsessed with that number only because that's what I was when I felt thin but now I know I was skinny fat. I'm nursing a recently diagnosed hip impingement - the professionals have been contradicting themselves - no lower body vs some lower body being mindful of form, weights, reps - so I've been extra cautious and been doing none of the things that helped before (squats, deadlifts, treadmill, bike, TRX). Sooo, that's y I was thinking of rapid weight loss thru diet. I'm crawling out of my skin being this inactive. What do you think about some lower body?

I would wait until your injury is completely healed before doing anything that might exacerbate it. Additionally, the number one reason to avoid a rapid weight loss plan is if you are injured. Your body is healing and impairing its ability to recover via rapid weight loss will only cause problems. I advise most people to attempt maintenance while injured and worry about weight loss once the injury is healed. The exception to this is people with a chronic injury (chronic back/knee pain) that is probably worse because they are overweight. This doesn't seem to be your case though so I'd eat maintenance, heal up, then do a regular weight loss plan once you can do exercises unrestricted.

BuccaneersFan wrote: »

As I'm sure it's a problem for most, when I'm on a cut my energy level when I lift diminishes quite a lot. What I would like to know is what is the minimum amount of sets and reps I can do during a cut to not lose strength and muscle mass. So lets say for example during a bulk I'm doing 5 sets of 200lbs. in squats, what is the minimum sets and reps I can get away with during a cut?

It's going to vary from person to person but you can probably cut both volume (total sets and reps) and frequency (how often you hit a muscle group) by up to 60%. For instance if I was doing a 5x5 4 times a week I could easily switch to a 3x5 3 times a week. The key is not reducing intensity (weight on the bar). Keep the weight on the bar the same, just cut back on as many sets/reps/days a week you need to make that possible.

SparklyBubblyBabe wrote: »

Damn! My question is: how do you feel!

I feel pretty great. It's hard to describe all the major and minor differences in how one feels physically and emotionally after losing so much weight!