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

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Replies

  • What is the best way for me to loose fat and gain muscle at the same time as a woman?
    Cardo - 3 hours atleast a week
    Weights - 3 days a week
    Cals 1350 (dont eat back but eat pretty clean)
    I am 135 pounds and 5'6.5''
    I lost 17 lbs and now working on muscles but still need to loose about 5 lbs of fat.
    THANK YOU :bigsmile:

    Very hard to do both at the same time unless you're a noob. When you just start or are just starting back after a long hiatus, your body will reward you with both. This will come to a SCREECHING hault after around 4 months....a year TOPS tops. At that point you need to focus on one or the other, bulking or cutting. To bulk, lift heavy weights, get your protein needs met, and slowly increase your calories till you start gaining. To cut, do the same thing only slowly reduce your calories till you start losing. I usually recommend the following: If you're SKINNY skinny, then dirty bulk. If you're skinny fat, then clean bulk. If you're just fat, then definitely cut. You can always change your goals along the way. That's the fun part. :)
  • megg0616
    megg0616 Posts: 59 Member
    I do Taebo ripped extreme its 30 MIN of cardio and 30 MIN of cardio weight training. I use 3 pound weights. I am loosing about 2 pounds a week. I fear that I'm going to hit a plateao u soon or just build mmuscle and have a harder time loosing weight. Should I mix things up? Add more weight? I have four different dvds by him and am rotating them and just add a stationary bike to my workout routine. What do you think?
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    What is the best way for me to loose fat and gain muscle at the same time as a woman?
    Cardo - 3 hours atleast a week
    Weights - 3 days a week
    Cals 1350 (dont eat back but eat pretty clean)
    I am 135 pounds and 5'6.5''
    I lost 17 lbs and now working on muscles but still need to loose about 5 lbs of fat.
    THANK YOU :bigsmile:

    Very hard to do both at the same time unless you're a noob. When you just start or are just starting back after a long hiatus, your body will reward you with both. This will come to a SCREECHING hault after around 4 months....a year TOPS tops. At that point you need to focus on one or the other, bulking or cutting. To bulk, lift heavy weights, get your protein needs met, and slowly increase your calories till you start gaining. To cut, do the same thing only slowly reduce your calories till you start losing. I usually recommend the following: If you're SKINNY skinny, then dirty bulk. If you're skinny fat, then clean bulk. If you're just fat, then definitely cut. You can always change your goals along the way. That's the fun part. :)
    I stopped loosing about a month ago when I started to lift. With the info above, what you do think I should do to change? I want to loose about 5 more lbs of fat first. Thank you
  • Hi- I am new to machines and have been using Planet Fitness's 30 minute express program. I have been doing it Wed and Sat. I don't really enjoy it and don't seem to increase the amount of weight. I do feel sore the next days. Do I have to increase to 3 times a week? I do cardio nearly every day for at least 30 minutes with a day of rest per week. I do hope to lose weight but want it to be a lifestyle I can live with. Thanks for your input;)

    My motto all the way. If you don't like it, then don't do it. Do dancers have nice bodies, do gymnasts have nice bodies, do sprinters have nice bodies, do volleyball players have nice bodies?.....Exactly. It's not the activity so much is that you're just doing something. My advice is to find something you love that gets you active, and then get great at it. It ALL burns calories.
  • thanks for answering all these questions! very informative!

    my question is jhave you had any clients with thyroid problems, and if so, how was their routine different for losing weight? im asking b/c i've been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and im finding weight loss more difficult now despite eating relatively low cals (1500) and burning about 500-600 cals/ day. unfortuately my doctor hasnt given much guidance for my weight loss goals!

    thanks!!

    Wasn't different at all, just the same to their level of ability. 70% effort for you and me and everyone else in the world is going to be the same. My 70% effort might be 135 pounds and yours 85, but we're still working at our respective 70% effort. We all can work hard at our own levels. There are top level bikini competitors with thyroid problems. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.....push through every limitation. Life is about growth yeh. :)
  • I've always wanted to do a triathlon. In the past, running itself was never a problem, I enjoy running. And biking itself is never a problem, I enjoy biking even more so. However, putting the two together is where I have an issue. A few minutes into running after riding my bike, my legs are leaden and I struggle with keeping my stride as well as speed. I've done other activities right before running and this doesn't happen. Swimming, tennis...
    Any ideas what's going on? I talked to a runner friend, and he said maybe we're (happens to him too) not built for triathlons. What? How can someone not be built for a triathlon? I always meant to ask him what he meant by that. Never got around to it, then I moved.

    Edit to say, I was on my bike every day, rode my bike instead of driving a car. And running was about 5-10 k 2 or 3 times a week.

    YOu just need more time. Doing your first tri is HUGE. Getting use to heavy legs the first few miles after biking is tough. Add brick training to your routine more often. You just gotta slow build up your tolerance that's all.
  • I'll be honest I didn't read through the now 13 pages of messages yet

    But my question is what's this about eatting back your exercise calories. Everytime I do I gain weight. I even tried it even for a week and I gain. I know not everyone body's is the same I get that.

    I just want to do this the right way and a way that I can maintain long term. This is lifestyle not diet.

    If you're eating back and gaining weight, then you're probably eating back too much. Keep it simple track your calories burned vs consumed daily. If you're not losing, then lower them or increase your activity till you do start losing. Simple as that yeh. Hope this helps
  • Question: Is this some sort of court ordered social service commitment for you, or are you really nice enough to answer rapid fire weight loss questions for hours at a time for complete strangers?

    Lol. The latter. I believe in giving back.
  • anda2oo5
    anda2oo5 Posts: 77
    bump

    Thank you!!!!
  • mrau719
    mrau719 Posts: 288 Member
    Fat loss question: I'm 5'7" with 23-24% bf at about 147-149 lbs. I lift weights 4-6x's a week fairly heavy. I added muscle and now I'm ready to cut. Eventually get down to around 19% bf. Is there truth behind eating more to burn fat? I'm having a hard time figuring out how much I should be eating to effectively burn fat but not deprive myself.

    There is definitely truth to eating more to burn fat, you just have to know when and how to use it. Bumping calories to spike a metabolism is wonderful. Refeed are good. An occasional cheatmeal is good. Constantly eating more than you're burning is bad. That is the science of weight gain. You can shuttle more excess calories to building muscle if its a slight caloric surplus, but you will add SOME amount of body fat regardless. And if you bump them up substantially, you're going to add a lot of bodyfat. Back to your question, definitely truth behind it....but you have to know what you're doing with it. If you're not losing, then you're obviously doing it wrong. Hope this helps

    Welp then I'm doing it wrong! I'm currently stuck. I'm considering shooting for 1600-1800 cals a day. I burn anywhere from 300-600 cals a workout--depending what I do. Should I do some zig-zagging?
  • Thanks for all the info! Good stuff!
  • minime2b
    minime2b Posts: 168
    bump!!
  • mbrou28
    mbrou28 Posts: 132 Member
    Bump!
  • tmpayton
    tmpayton Posts: 148 Member
    bump
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Question: Is this some sort of court ordered social service commitment for you, or are you really nice enough to answer rapid fire weight loss questions for hours at a time for complete strangers?

    Lol. The latter. I believe in giving back.

    You are awesome. Thanks for all the time and effort and good no-nonsense advice.
  • purpleychick
    purpleychick Posts: 39 Member
    there is a lot to read here!
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
    You have male parts, no?
    Why do you have kissy faced photos?

    Is that b/c you're feeling more confident in yourself b/c you're ripped? (I had to at least make it partially fitness related)
  • jreese5226
    jreese5226 Posts: 328 Member
    bump
  • christadiehl
    christadiehl Posts: 15 Member
    I have been doing bodypump (60 minutes of weight circuits basically) 3x a week and 90 minutes of various intensities of cardio 3x a week (running 30 minutes and 60 minutes of bike, elliptical, or other cardio). I eat 1400 a day and drink atleast a gallon of water a day. I have lost about 1-1.5 lbs a week since starting until lastweek and it has stalled. I feel hungry more often lately and thought od uppingthe daily calories, but as i dont know how to gauge the calories i burn each day, i didnlt know if adding calories would help or make the weightloss to stall even longer...i am 5"4', 151 lbs, and trying to get to 125-130. I dont have a set date to accomplish this but sooner than later :) whats your opinion, on all this? Thank you for your advice!
  • megacy
    megacy Posts: 80 Member
    I've always wanted to do a triathlon. In the past, running itself was never a problem, I enjoy running. And biking itself is never a problem, I enjoy biking even more so. However, putting the two together is where I have an issue. A few minutes into running after riding my bike, my legs are leaden and I struggle with keeping my stride as well as speed. I've done other activities right before running and this doesn't happen. Swimming, tennis...
    Any ideas what's going on? I talked to a runner friend, and he said maybe we're (happens to him too) not built for triathlons. What? How can someone not be built for a triathlon? I always meant to ask him what he meant by that. Never got around to it, then I moved.

    Edit to say, I was on my bike every day, rode my bike instead of driving a car. And running was about 5-10 k 2 or 3 times a week.

    YOu just need more time. Doing your first tri is HUGE. Getting use to heavy legs the first few miles after biking is tough. Add brick training to your routine more often. You just gotta slow build up your tolerance that's all.

    Thanks! I tend to just go do things without asking questions and blunder my way through. Good to know I just need to build up. Full steam ahead!
  • yustick
    yustick Posts: 238 Member
    bump for future review
  • suthernbelle
    suthernbelle Posts: 566 Member
    bump
  • Thank you so much for doing this. I'm a newbie here and feel a little awkward spamming the board with my questions, so having someone willing to hold still and let me fire a barrage is really awesome. :)

    I had my first baby about a year and a half ago and have subsequently been heavier than I've ever been. I was a bit heavy even before that, but steadily losing weight due to a combination of being too broke to eat + walking EVERYWHERE. I exclusively nursed and was reassured that it would melt off the fat in the months after giving birth, but... yeah, didn't happen. I was 160 pounds (and 5'2") after the birth, and stayed that way until I got fed up a year or so later and did fanatical calorie tracking and 45 minutes of cardio daily. Lost about 10 pounds, but couldn't sustain obsessing over calories so much and the daily workouts, so fell off and gained back about five pounds over six months. A couple months ago, I started tracking calories and working out again.

    I started off at about 1300 calories a day, since that's what all the calculators said, but I'm a stay-at-home mom chasing a toddler and still doing some nursing, so I started feeling like the calculators may not be very accurate for me. (I felt like I was starving to death and my mood and sleep went totally off-kilter.) So lately I've been eating 2000 calories + keeping up with workouts and seeing if it causes me to gain or lose, then adjusting from there. I'm not scared to gain a pound or two in the interest of figuring out the most I can eat and still lose. I gained a little under a pound in the first week, but I knew to expect that, so I'm seeing how week 2's weigh-in goes.

    Hopefully that's enough background. Here are my questions!:

    1. My workout regimen consists of four days of REALLY high-intensity circuit training for 30 minutes, high intensity cardio for 30 minutes on one day, and then two "rest" days where I do really low-impact stuff like yoga, bellydance, or ballet (dancing is one of my hobbies.)

    Does the circuit training gives me enough strength training, since it's not exactly "lifting heavy"? I HAVE noticed significant strength gains in the past few weeks -- my upper body is stronger, my lunges and squats are going deeper and holding longer, and my formerly too-heavy toddler is getting lighter.

    2. I currently am at the correct ratio for an hourglass figure (I'm just a "fat" hourglass) and I'd like to keep that. My understanding, though, is that overdoing it on exercises working the abs can create that square torso look that pilates instructors have and that I really don't want to develop. What's the best way to avoid getting the square look and keep the narrow waist definition?

    3. How accurate have you found MFP's calorie counts? I cook from home most of the time and rely on MFP's estimates on the nutritional content of my recipes.

    4. I'm a recovering soda addict, and while I've made a LOT of progress, I still have a soda a few times a week. I always record it and I'm staying within my calories. I'm aiming to quit entirely by the end of the year. Am I going to totally sabotage any progress I might make if I don't cut it out right away? With all the noise about high-fructose corn syrup, I'm half believing that I can workout all the time, eat well, and yet a soda a week will make me gain ten pounds. :P

    5. Sometimes I have to do my workouts while my toddler's awake. Most of the time, I can push through it with her only being a little irritated at not having my undivided attention, but sometimes she gets into something, gets hungry, or needs comfort in the middle of my workout. I worry that these little interruptions are really cutting into the effectiveness of my workouts, but obviously I'm not going to ignore my daughter if she really needs me. Am I worrying overmuch, or am I really better off restarting the whole program until I can do it from start-to-finish with no interruptions?

    I am so sorry for the wall of text. Thank you for holding still. :)

    1. How much strength do you want? Circuits are efficient for gaining strength but there are more effective ways if you just want STRENGTH strength.

    2. Best way to not get the square look is by doing excercises that work your hourglass like squats, lunges, and lateral raises.

    3. Pretty decently active unless you're trying to get shredded. Then I'd personally manipulate a few things.

    4. Sugar isn't the killer killer, but I would ween off of it asap.

    5. Just get and stay active. If you have an interruption, that's fine. Just make sure you're progressively overloading yourself.
  • gkcimino
    gkcimino Posts: 25 Member
    I have been advised to mix up my workout routines but I'm confused by what exactly that means. I have certainely turned up the intensity of all my workouts keeping my Heart rate above 130 per HRm (my goal established by the HRM is 111 to 145). My workout routine includes 45 minute treadmill (15 minutes I run) and then run/ walk intervals to keep the heart rate up. When the weather is nice I take the workout outside to a track and do 60 minutes of walk/run intervals. Am I mixing it up enough??? I have been losing weight at about 1lb/week or more since I increased the intensity of the workout until this week when I only lost 1/2 pound. Now I am panicking.Should I add in an aerobics class/ water aerobics etc or can I just change the time/intensit y and continue with the treadmill/track routine??? Keep in mind I am 49 years old and need to lose about 50 more pounds. Thanks for any advice you ccan give me
  • tina9988
    tina9988 Posts: 369
    bump
  • weisegirl1119
    weisegirl1119 Posts: 122 Member
    Bump
  • bikinibeliever
    bikinibeliever Posts: 832 Member
    Bump to read later...Thanks OP!
  • pukekolive
    pukekolive Posts: 237 Member
    bump
  • Kassieisproud
    Kassieisproud Posts: 149
    Whats the best workout plan to maintain muscle? I used to lift often but nowadays not so much, ive been doing more biking, running/walking, Pilates and yoga. I was thinking full body lifting sessions 3 times a week.
    Also can challenging myself in exercises like yoga and Pilates help me maintain?
  • gauchogirl
    gauchogirl Posts: 467 Member
    Not complaining, you're being SUPER generous and helpful, but it appears you're answering in order and I think I fell through the cracks. I was the last one before you took your break earlier today :)
    Since it seems a bit different topic than you've answered so far (food timing, not "what to do"), I'm copy/pasting below agai. thanks!

    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 (type of food, like carbs/fats/proteins). 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.
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