StonehamPark
#Brighton-Nil
Lifting will create muscle mass which weighs a fair amount more than fat.
Lifting is a great way to burn fat as the muscle building process burns fat much faster than running or most other cardio based exercises.
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Losing Weight
- Thread starter Dancing Sock
- Start date
Lifting will create muscle mass which weighs a fair amount more than fat.
Lifting is a great way to burn fat as the muscle building process burns fat much faster than running or most other cardio based exercises.
6' - 17.3st on 23rd April (not May as stated earlier - that would have been unhealthy!!) now 15.1st - the weight has been steadily coming off (although it's a little up and down on a daily basis of course). Originally aiming to get a "14 something" at the start, but now I'm nearly there I'm thinking I'd like to be under 200lbs (199 being 14.3) just because that sounds like a target. Like leigull, my body fat has gone from 28% to 18% and muscle from 32 to 39%. So all moving in the right direction. And all this during a tough time for my family - so I had plenty of excuses to stop or let things drift.
Sounds like I'm going a similar route to Papa Laz and Leigull. Have moderated my food intake in a sustainable way and I'm doing some exercise.
I do spin a couple of times a week. One personal trainer a week (although now will probably do it without him because I'm more confident with the kit). Cricket on Saturdays (non-sports according to Mrs TRHK). And core conditioning once a week (plank, stretches, v-sits etc). Also signed up for a 10k in September so last week started adding runs on my rest days from the gym. Have built this up gradually and I'm loving it. I find classes good because you kind of feel like your in it together.
I eat five meals a day. In reality this means a snack mid-morning (could be fruit and yogurt or a few nuts) and a snack mid afternoon. I've more or less cut our carbs but am eating a few "good" carbs like brown rice, sweet pots etc. Generally just far more aware of what I am eating. And by logging it I know if I have gone "off piste" so I can get back on track again in the following days. Eating no shit most of the time (no sweets, biscuits, white bread, fried food - you know the stuff). No need to be super analytical in my view. Just learn about what you eat and eat sensibly and write it down. If I've had a day when I've had a couple of beers and a good meal, then I'll do an extra spin and really watch what I eat for a day or two. Key for me is that I am never hungry. Over two and a half months my apetite is less than it was - I'm just eating less. And I have more muscle so the calories I do eat are being used up repairing muscles after I have exercised. (Great comment I read about fat and muscle - muscle demands food, to repair and to work, all the time. So the more you have, the more your calories get burned even if you aren't actively exercising. Fat never uses up calories. It's just weight. It sits their waiting to be used. So if you can switch some of your weight from fat to muscle, your body will use more calories. That's why people measure fat% and muscle %).
I'm using a bit of technology too. www.weightchart.com to track my weight each day. Obsessed by seeing this tick down over time - very motivational for me personally. MapMyRun to track how far/fast I am running. Amazing free app for a smartphone. I'm not one for measuring calories (so tedious and unsustainable for me) but I have read around the subject and have a good idea about what is good for me and what to swerve. I write down everything I eat - everything - on Evernote.
Not sure if that helps - but it's working for me. I've bought the first "L" shirts (as opposed to "XL") I can remember buying recently and my trousers are falling off me. I've had to replace belts and trousers will have to be next. I'm not skinny - but if I get to somewhere a little over 14st I'll be happy. Then I can be less rigorous. I can then afford to be a little more relaxed about the things I love to eat - and I know I'll be able to maintain my weight. My eating habits have changed for ever and I love doing the exercise. I am NOT someone with an iron will - if there are biscuits in the house I'm still gonna hoover them - so my tip is clear this stuff out. Remove the temptation.
My big tip - do what works for you. There's no such thing as a diet - what you eat is your diet. Stick with it. Write everything down but you don't need to obsess about whether an apple has 45 or 55 calories. Set yourself small, short temr goals and bloody go for it each time. Good luck.
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Feck - that was a long ramble. Sorry.
Great stuff well done.
Don't worry. It was a good read. What is a "meal" for you then? I notice you have cut out a lot of carbs so what do you eat instead for, say, dinner?
What do you mean by "most efficient"? The most efficient way isn't always the best way.
Easy to answer this because it all gets written down - here's the last couple of weeks:
Poached salmon and salad
Chicken salad strawberries and ice cream
Omlette mushrooms and saute pots (very little fat)
Lamb chops sweet pot chips (oven roasted) and mushroom
Egg and potato bake (sort of fritata)
Cod salsa verde and asparagus
Roast veg and salad
Home made Chili and brown rice
Grilled salmon and rice with veg (flaked together like a kedgeree - peas, sweetcorn and whatever was lying about)
Grilled chicken salad
Turkey meatballs (brilliant recipe), oven roast veg and salad
Seafod (crab, prawns, smoked salmon and a little bread), lambs lettuce
Sausage salad (3 grilled organic sausages sliced and tossed in a crunchy salad)
Steak and green beans
Cod with salsa verde and a couple of new pots
Roast chicken (skin then removed) and steamed veg (green beans) and grilled veg (aubergines and courgettes griddled)
Dinner out - soup, fish course, no desert
Burger (no bun) and salad
Sweet potato, chili and salad
PS if all that salad sounds boring - I make some really good salads!
**** me, I'm coming round yours for dinner! Cheers. I try to eat healthily most of the time so it's always good to get a few new ideas...and your list also dismisses any ideas that healthy food is boring.
You eat really well. And yes, healthy stuff that doesn't all sound dull as dishwater.
One that me and the MISSUS love and always get in Spain is their simple tuna salads - get a fresh bit of tuna, sear it's face off, chuck in with lettuce, cucumber and tomato, drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of orange, sprinkle pine nuts - bloody LOVELY, incredibly light and fresh.
Yes yes. I always chuckle when people talk about convenience foods ie microwave meals. What you have discribed takes little time and is infinitely better. Also Stir fries take minutes and you don't even have to wash the wok afterwards if you follow Chinese custom. What's more convenient than this? It makes a mockery of quick supermarket meals.
I have this Japanese dish I can knock up in minutes, sear a tuna steak, chuck in a mix of soy, honey and sesame seeds until it bubbles and is sticky, lay on a salad or noodles. You can create this in two minutes. Why does anyone buy a microwaveable meal for convenience?
deletebeepbeepbeep
Well-known member
- May 12, 2009
- 21,782
Heavy weightlifting, combined with protein and a calorie deficit, will help you retain the most muscle mass while you lose fat. You don't want to lose all that fat and have no shape to your body. Lifting heavy weights will cause you to lose fat over a 24 hour period as opposed to running where your weight loss drops away two hours directly after running. You will lose more fat quickly by lifting heavy weights, and I don't mean using machines but using free weights and lifts, bench press, squats, dead lifts etc etc.
If your afraid of becoming a beefcake don't be, muscle gain like that needs years of lifting and having a very specific diet, if you eat at a calory loss with a high protein diet whilst lifting weights you will just lose weight and tone the muscle you have rather than become .skinnyfat
I think it's the planning ahead (so you have food in) that is more difficult than the preparation. Some days it's hard to get that right - then I resort to store cupboard favourites eg brown rice, sweet corn, frozen peas, frozen prawns (or tin tuna) and mushrooms. Simple as. Or an omelet. Big fan of left overs (in salads in the summer, in stir frys in the winter). But generally I think it's organising the buying not the making that's the issue.
Also, I left off that list the meals when I fell of the wagon and ate out (fish and chips - very bad, curry - not so bad had tandoori). But these are few and far betweena dn frankly - why not every now and again. You have to be able to live with your way of eating for ever!
Also, I left off that list the meals when I fell of the wagon and ate out (fish and chips - very bad, curry - not so bad had tandoori). But these are few and far betweena dn frankly - why not every now and again. You have to be able to live with your way of eating for ever!
Quite. I have slowly but surely educated myself with eating and now genuinely enjoy some very healthy meals. I don't think it necessarily works for people to have a very sudden shift of diet as they will feel they're depriving themselves, get depressed and probably end up bingeing and then dropping the diet or struggling on/off.
You could always do diet chef or something similar.Lazy way to restrict your diet intake to 1200-1500 calories
elninobonito
Whitehawk Born and Bred
- May 27, 2011
- 652
Ive been lazy over the last three weeks which is now annoying while reading this thread again. I seem to get to a point and then loose interest? Its not helping my calfs play up after running three times a week for about 4 to 5 weeks, its like its too much and they hurt a lot.
Think my problem is cutting out carbs, knowing what to eat that will be better for me is the trouble. This is a great help though, knowing there are people going through what I am!
Think my problem is cutting out carbs, knowing what to eat that will be better for me is the trouble. This is a great help though, knowing there are people going through what I am!
Do you have a clear goal?
I would suggest possibly having a long term goal (i.e. be a certain weight by say, 3 months time, or even Christmas) then also have shorter term goals to keep it current and relevant (i.e. I will jog X many miles this month, or something similar).
Yesterday I had a single piece of toast for breakfast and half a wholemeal pitta bread with hummus as a snack later in the day.
I didn't have any other bread, potatoes, rice, pasta or any of the other things people typically consider when they think of carb intake.
Yet, despite that, 65% of my intake yesterday was carbohydrates. I'm a veggie and eat a lot of veg and fruit and it's amazing how much 'hidden' carbs these foods seem to contain.
I didn't have any other bread, potatoes, rice, pasta or any of the other things people typically consider when they think of carb intake.
Yet, despite that, 65% of my intake yesterday was carbohydrates. I'm a veggie and eat a lot of veg and fruit and it's amazing how much 'hidden' carbs these foods seem to contain.
There are different sorts of carbs though I believe. So compare a sweet potato to a spud. Both have carbs but of a completely different sort and have very different effects on your weight. But the wider point is that even food that you think should be good for you can be a bit sneaky. And even when you eat seems to determine if food is better or worse for a weight loss regime. That's why I didn't bother plotting calories etc. Just keep track of what you eat - read well around the subject - and you'll find what works for you.
Interesting , short article on carbs - http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...5-carbs-20120125_1_carb-grains-glycemic-index
Interesting , short article on carbs - http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...5-carbs-20120125_1_carb-grains-glycemic-index
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Same here. It can be quite stressful worrying about calories and the like all day. I eat what I consider a healthy and varied diet for most of the week, run 4 times a week and if I feel my diet has been a bit on the wild side I stick a few more miles on my distance or run faster.
