Ask me anything about fat/weight loss....

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Replies

  • willjean
    willjean Posts: 29 Member
    I'm gonna be on and off here most of the day, so I thought I'd try to be of help to anybody with questions out there. Train hard, and live shredded.


    Why is it recommended to use a multi-vitamin when working out or doing high-intense cardio? I'm really trying to get everything I need from the food I eat and not a supplement source.
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
    Great info - I appreciate your honest answers and the fact that you are not trying to claim - as many other MFPers do - that 1 particular regime will work for 100% of the population. Thanks!!!!!


    Exactly. Agree!
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406


    ... Enjoy the ride, it will make for a way better biography. ...

    LOVE this line!

    Thanks for your straightforward responses. This has been very educational.

    Definitely yeh. Love your profile pic by the way. Freakin' shredded yeh! ;D
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    I have had an operation on my knee and because of it I cannot do the activities I was doing before the surgery at present......Could you suggest any exercises I could do while sitting at home.

    Seated lateral raises, seated shoulder presses, seated dumbbell curls, seated overhead triceps extensions, shoulder rotations, dumbbell shrugs....all these can be done from a seated position. Find an incline bench and you could even and chest work and rows to your routine.
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    First - thanks for doing this!

    My question: I started out at 330 lbs and since December I've lost 33 of them. I do strength training 3 days a week and cardio on those days plus 2 more for a total of 5 days at the gym (for about 1 hour each day.) I was losing 2-3 lbs a week and I was eating between 1500-1900 calories depending on my workout for the day.

    Then at the end of March I decided to alter my strength training a little bit and do less on the machines and more with my own body weight and/or dumbbells. More squats, step-ups, push-ups, crunches with a medicine ball, and arm work with dumbells. It felt great and was so much harder than my normal workout. But my weight loss came to an abrupt halt. I even started gaining. After 4 weeks of hovering betwee 299-305 I stopped doing those workouts and went back to what I had been doing, thinking maybe I had too much of a calorie deficit to be strength training that hard and would need to up my calories to build muscle but not end up losing fat. Being the weight that I am, I feel like I need more weight loss right now.

    Now I am into week 7 since my last weight loss and I still haven't lost anything. I've tried a week of eating more and I've tried taking a week off of working out, but that didn't do anything one way or the other. I fluctuate between 299-306 every couple of days. My food has not changed and I still work out 5 days a week. Is there something I can do to jump start my weight loss again? I am afraid of tinkering with my routine without knowing what I'm doing.
    ^^This

    Answered.
    Sorry, I initially missed the response. Thanks!

    Of course of course! And you're welcome yeh! :)
  • mel128
    mel128 Posts: 81 Member
    Bump
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Bump. These responses are very informative. If I have a question I'll definitely ask. Thanks for offering all your support/feedback to everyone!

    Anytime yeh. ;)
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    This goes back into what I call 'Tricking The Effect'. With strength training, and a smart diet, you can drastically change the game up of how you look. Large hips and but, but want slender legs....then stop training legs intensely! Skinny legs and no hips, then train hips and thighs intensely! Going after the hour glass figure but have boney shoulders? Start hitting the shoulders and upper back intensely twice a week. NOTHING will blow up over one workout. Track your measurements of what you want to get smaller, and what you want to grow larger. If something starts growing to fast or gets to big, decrease the intensity. Hope this answers your question yeh. Cheers
    [/quote]

    :flowerforyou: u are a saint
    [/quote]

    Lol. Can I quote that to my mother? ;)
  • txsgirlK
    txsgirlK Posts: 171 Member
    Bump for all the great info.....and so I can come back and stare at your profile pic! :blushing:
  • TinaDay1114
    TinaDay1114 Posts: 1,328 Member
    I'm 41, 5'5", and currently 136 lbs. I've always been very active (love working out ) but needed to lose the last 20 lbs. after having 2 kids -- I finally kicked it tracking my food on here.

    I hit my goal of 132 lbs. right after New Year's, but I've been yo-yoing over the same 5 lbs. for the last 5 months.

    I was eating about 1,500 calories / day + exercise calories, and then bumped it up to 1,800 (+ exercise cals) when I reached my goal because I was training for a 1/2 marathon, and I was working out 5-6 days a week, sometimes burning over 1,000 calories on longer runs. I also started incorporating 2 days of circuit training w/weights.

    I recently cut back to the 1,500 + exercise cals after the bottom of my weight range kept slowly inching higher (now instead of 132, my low is usually 135 or 136). I've done a lot of the BMR / TDEE calorie calculators, and still feel like I'm struggling to find my "magic #" per day to stay at my goal weight.

    Is this "magic #" just different for every person? How do you determine where your clients should be calorie wise?

    I also don't wanna get too hung up on the #s...advice?
  • littlepinkhearts
    littlepinkhearts Posts: 1,055 Member
    BumP
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    I'm very surprised by the little amount of fruit it takes to go over the recommended daily limit for sugars on MFP. A large banana, 10 strawberries, and a large apple maxes out the sugars on a normal day before exercising. Obviously that number adjusts for calories burned, but does the daily goal seem to be too low? With the summer coming up, I eat a lot of fruit, and make fruit salads nearly every week - it would seem that one large bowl would max me out for the day.

    I'm not really worried about it because I have been active and working out, but I would welcome some input. Thanks.

    I love fruit personally. But I can easily become a fruitaholic sometimes. If I'm bulking, I don't watch it. I just eat however much I want. If I'm maintaining, then I watch it a little. If I'm cutting, I watch it like a hawk for just the same reasons as you said....they can add up really fast yeh.
  • kevinwk
    kevinwk Posts: 77
    bump
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    what can i start doing for strength training? I don't want to start really hard in the beginning.

    Start off with machines. Go slowly and feel the muscles contracting. Make it your goal each workout to be just a centimeter harder than the last. This can be accomplished by more weight, more reps, more sets, faster tempo, slower tempo, less rest, increased range of motion, decreased range of motion, forces reps, drop sets negatives, etc. Just a little more each workout. Won't seem like much in the short run, but if you could do this every workout three times a week for the next year, that would be a huge change in your ability levels yeh!
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Great thread OP!

    Thanks, hon. Glad ya like it. :)
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    I'm gonna be on and off here most of the day, so I thought I'd try to be of help to anybody with questions out there. Train hard, and live shredded.


    Why is it recommended to use a multi-vitamin when working out or doing high-intense cardio? I'm really trying to get everything I need from the food I eat and not a supplement source.

    Not necessarily needed, but I've always been a big fan of the multi. It's one of the few supplements I WILL use on the regular.
  • tulip07
    tulip07 Posts: 167 Member
    Wow this is such an informative thread. Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer questions!
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Bump for all the great info.....and so I can come back and stare at your profile pic! :blushing:

    Lol. Aww shucks. ;)
  • cutethang1
    cutethang1 Posts: 239 Member
    AWESOME THREAD! Bumping for later as most of my questions are already answered!

    Thank you!
  • gauchogirl
    gauchogirl Posts: 467 Member
    I work out multiple times a day (due to not having one long block of time) and am never sure about when/what to eat. I get a half hour around lunch time, a half hour at 5:00 and a half hour about 7:00 pm.
    In a full normal week those 3x day workouts will include:
    3x full body weight bearing workouts (multi-joint exercises using bodyweight)
    2X sprints or other HIIT cardio
    3X long hikes around on local hills
    4x moderate tempo elliptical
    4x good old fashioned walking the dog.

    I follow a (mostly) paleo lifestyle with daily IF as well (break my fast about 11:00 with a big *kitten* salad with meat and high healthy fat dressing and have meat/veggies/healthy fat at dinner, around 6:30,) but I never know if I should be eating before each workout or after. And, what, if anything, should differ on cardio only workouts vs. bodyweight training (food/timing wise.)

    Current info: 5'6" female, age 44, SW 265+, CW 210, GW 150ish?

    Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! thanks.
  • ERIKARJ
    ERIKARJ Posts: 32 Member
    HELLO!!
    I´ve lost so far 20 lbs.. i have left like 4 but thos dont go away..!!!
    mfp TELS ME TO EAT 1200 CALORIES PER DAY and i do, i didn give myself 1 one week of rest.. and i eat about 1800 cal each day; then started over last week on my 1200 cal.. kept the cardio for 30 min and strenght for another 15 or 20 min... and ab work.. i exercise about 1hour and 20 minutes, resting 2 days a week... and thos 4 lbs never seem to go away.. i drink at least 10 water glasses.. and.. i think i dont eat bad... what should i do?
  • kelbee23
    kelbee23 Posts: 10 Member
    bump
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    I'm 41, 5'5", and currently 136 lbs. I've always been very active (love working out ) but needed to lose the last 20 lbs. after having 2 kids -- I finally kicked it tracking my food on here.

    I hit my goal of 132 lbs. right after New Year's, but I've been yo-yoing over the same 5 lbs. for the last 5 months.

    I was eating about 1,500 calories / day + exercise calories, and then bumped it up to 1,800 (+ exercise cals) when I reached my goal because I was training for a 1/2 marathon, and I was working out 5-6 days a week, sometimes burning over 1,000 calories on longer runs. I also started incorporating 2 days of circuit training w/weights.

    I recently cut back to the 1,500 + exercise cals after the bottom of my weight range kept slowly inching higher (now instead of 132, my low is usually 135 or 136). I've done a lot of the BMR / TDEE calorie calculators, and still feel like I'm struggling to find my "magic #" per day to stay at my goal weight.

    Is this "magic #" just different for every person? How do you determine where your clients should be calorie wise?

    I also don't wanna get too hung up on the #s...advice?

    With my clients I usually start them off on a reco. For men usually 2,000, for women 1,200. From there I reevaluate at the end of every week to see how their body is responding. If they're losing too fast, I'll bump their calories up. Too slow, and I'll decrease them again or up their activity factor. I've talked earlier about how fickle the metabolism is, and how unique each of our bodies are. Usually toward the end with them I start having them incorporate weekly refeeds, and then when they are usually a month out from goal, I start increasing their calories each week to see how strong I can get their metabolism without adding back fat.

    For you I would recommend the same. Take it slow and easy. Track what you're eating, and slowly start decreasing the amounts till you start losing.
  • Pearl0105
    Pearl0105 Posts: 35 Member
    This is a Fantastic thread... Loads of information... most of my questions are being answered. Thanks for taking the time to help us!!! And might I add what an eye candy you are!......:blushing:
  • TheOfficialEpic
    TheOfficialEpic Posts: 406
    Whew! Alright, guys...I'm gonna take a break for a while. Great questions yeh. I'll be back later today and again tomorrow morning though. Enjoy your day and keep the questions coming if you have them. I'll do my best to answer. If I don't have the answer, I can most likely point you to somebody in the industry that does. Cheers yeh
  • aj_31
    aj_31 Posts: 994 Member
    REST WEEK?

    Okay so I've been lifting and doing cardio at least 5-6 days a week since the beginning of the year. I'm going to Mexico at the end of this week.

    Do I take it as a rest week and not do any weights/cardio or do I try and get something in while I'm there? I'll be swimming, walking, snorkeling, etc but should I get in an actual workout or take it as a rest week? I ask because its an all-inclusive so I will be drinking a lot of alcoholic drinks.

    Your thoughts?

    Completely up to you. At this point most of you probably get that I'm about moderation. Rest weeks are sometimes a GREAT thing for diet and exercise. Usually after I take a week off, I might have put on a pound, but my energy levels and motivation is through the roof the next week back. But if you on this all-inclusive and you're missing your workouts too much, then by all means, have some fun yeh!

    Thanks for your feedback!
  • kcragg
    kcragg Posts: 239 Member
    bump
  • BOLO4Hagtha
    BOLO4Hagtha Posts: 396 Member
    I have no question. Just wanted to say that GOOD GOD YOU ARE INCREDIBLE TO LOOK AT. :)

    Co-sign
  • Ltmatthewhoyt
    Ltmatthewhoyt Posts: 1
    So i have been using myfitnesspal for about a week. So far so good. I add all the food and exercise as I should. When I exercise it calculates additional calories for intake. I am trying to lose weight. I am currently 230 and am 6'1".
    Can you explain why I should increase my intake and if its beneficial to eat those added calories.
    Thanks!
  • lucasthoennes
    lucasthoennes Posts: 2 Member
    Never posted before but I gotta say...

    This is the greatest thread I have ever read on this site in the three months I have been on here.

    Big mahalo to you sir!!!!!
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