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Hi filipina, the first step for fat loss (in my opinion) is calculating your daily calorie needs ( just google tdee calculator, they are mostly the same ) and then tracking all your calories every day, so you can get an idea of how much you're actually eating compared to what you need, then remove a few hundred calories (2-400) , and try to get lots of protein in your diet (i recommend 2g per kg)

 

Now if you want to gain muscle, while losing fat, bring your calories back up to maintenance, or a little under, and find or make up a program to use at the gym, i believe it doesn't really matter what program you use (gym trainers can usually make one for you, so just ask them), as long as you're consistant with it, on top of that start doing light cardio, and work it into your gym sessions, something like a fast walk or a slow jog, not so you're out of breath, wheezing and trying to catch your breath, something like an hour a day

 

this method probably wont burn fat too fast, but it will help you to gain muscle, and burn a little fat

 

if you want to speed up your fat loss, just remove some more calories, and work in some more cardio

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I think the best advice I could give would be what has worked best for me.

Basically the only way I can really lose fat at a decent rate (AND over a longer period of time, meaning progress won't stop after a few weeks) would be a keto diet. So 6 days a week I would try to get less than 5% of my calories from carbs and one day a week I would just eat normally. The great thing here is that because of all the dietary fat you won't be very hungry, even if you have a slight caloric deficit. I would not work with a deficit of more than 500 calories per day. I used to do that years ago and it never really worked. You need the calories to keep your metabolism running the way it should be.

 

So what could you eat during that week?

Seitan, egg free mayonnaise, tofu, almonds, brazil nuts, oil heavy salads (general rule: if it is green, you can eat it. if not, you shouldn't) protein powder and some other kinds of nuts and seeds. Just recently when I used this diet I ate chocolate protein powder mixed with natural peanut butter and enough water to make it a nice kind of pudding. Was actually quite tasty.

 

There are some plans on our forum but they are in German. Your browser should help you with that though, this may give you some ideas:

http://veganstrength.users-board.com/t24-sinn-und-unsinn-von-proteinreicher-ernahrung-im-bodybuilding

http://veganstrength.users-board.com/t770-floeys-ad-ungefahr-skizziert

http://veganstrength.users-board.com/t3558-low-carb-ernahrungsplan-eure-meinung

http://veganstrength.users-board.com/t1731-ich-mach-dann-mal-auf-anabol?highlight=anabol

 

Training-wise:

Any usual routine combined with hard work should do. Training when cutting is no different to training when bulking.

If you want to do something extra to speed up the process a little you can do either of these two things:

1) intervall cardio training.

In the simplest and one of the most effective ways: just look for the steepest hill, you can find. Run up that hill as fast as you can for 100-200 meters. Walk back down. As soon as you get back to the starting point run back up. Repeat 5-10 times. And don't puke. I would do this half a day or maybe 24 hours after a lower body training session.

 

2) GPP (general physical preparedness) training sessions.

These are just short extra training sessions. Let's say you train your upper body twice a week, on wednesday and on saturday. Then on thursday and sunday you could have a little 15 minute session (everyone has time for that) to get some extra work in and speed up recovery. For example, you could just set up a clock for 15 minutes and then try to do as many push ups, pull ups and leg raises as you can in that given time frame. For lower body work you could do bodyweight squats, walking lunges and situps. Or just what I described as option no 1.

 

Cardio for a long time with an even pace won't help, though. It is definitely great for improving your endurance but it will actually make your body store fat (for bad times) instead of burning it. Especially for women, this is very true. Thus hours spent on a treadmill are a waste of time.

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hi again filipina girl, just wondering, would you consider yourself as overweight? 1800 calories,and 21-2300 calories sound pretty average for a female to me (though i'm a guy, my calories are a little different)

 

as for the high intensity/running/sprinting stuff, i wouldn't recommend that stuff myself, i'm sure it's great for fat loss, but it's very unpleasant to jump right into, and i really don't think that extended comfortable exercise, like a jog or a fast walk is going to make your body store more fat (what is this lol)

 

i recommend fast walks/ comfortable jogs a bunch of times a week (say 3-5), enough to get your heart rate up, but not too much that you are wheezing, needing to rest/feel like puking, collapsing, etc, it just isnt encouraging to do that sort of thing every day, i should also mention i have done lots of high intensity stuff with sport & training.

 

 

i personally have a fast metabolism, and i'm very good at following strict diets/calorie deficits and losing weight, i don't like extended periods without carbs, but it can be useful to cut them out occasionally for a day or two, with that said, i know alot of people have a harder time burning fat, and gain weight alot easier, so i might not be the best person to be giving advice about this

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muchidna, I would consider myself overweight. I have a very slow metabolism from all the yoyo dieting I was doing before deciding that weightlifting and muscle was best. Within the last few months, I lost about 20lbs, but then life happened... gained 5+ and haven't been able to get back on track. I'm trying hard to get myself psyched. Before the life events, I was doing a program called ChaLean Extreme. I saw myself getting stronger and gaining muscle, but haven't notice much in the weight aspect (I tried very hard not to look at the scale). As I added more weight, I noticed more low back pain so I would have to rest for longer periods to recoup. I'm the type of person that needs to see changes to stay motivated. That's why I asked for a faster method. I think my problem is mostly on the nutrition side. I have a hard time staying on a strict diet. I try to be "healthy" but bread and rice taste so good! Thanks again for your input!

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So, there are a lot of recommendations out there, and these above are both good. How much do you weigh, and what would you like your weight to be? If you know that much, the rest is pretty simple. To lose weight, your calories burned must be higher than your calories consumed. You can do this one of two ways: (1) eat fewer calories than your maintenance; or (2) eat at maintenance (or below for added benefit), and exercise. At first you will lose weight quickly, mostly fat and water, but you will also lose muscle. To counteract this, you need to spur muscle growth by increasing your protein intake. You can get obsessive about your calories, and macronutrients (for example, my trainer recommends a 50/30/20% split for protein/carbs/fat. Get yourself a journal, or if you're like me, make a spreadsheet where you can log everything you eat. http://www.calorieking.com is a great resource for finding the nutritional information on basically any food you can think of.

 

As for training, interval training is touch, and could be dangerous if you just jump into it with no foundational training skills... BUT

 

BUT

 

High Intenstity Interval training (aka HIIT, See Insanity, P90X) is an excellent tool for losing weight quickly. If I were you, I would focus on building a solid foundation with weight training, no more than 4 days per week, with one of those days devoted to cardio. Split your workouts in a way that makes them simple, and enjoyable. One example may be:

 

Monday: Weight Training - Upper Body - Focus on Chest, Upper/Middle Back, Arms

Tuesday: Weight Training - Lower Body - Focus on Legs, Lower Back, and Core

Wednesday: Rest.

Thursday: Cardio Day, and add some core training.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Full Body Training - Choose eight exercises, using heavier weights, and do three to four sets of each (Two for each of Chest, Back, Arms, Legs, Core) - also, this is the day I would use as my cheat day (see below).

Sunday: Rest.

 

This is pretty much what I do, except for I don't do a cardio day (though I freakin should!)... I do a whole core day instead. If you want to add some cardio to each day, pick something simple to get your blood flowing. I like jump rope. It's a full body exercise, and you can do it for a couple of minutes without totally draining your energy.

 

Food: Eat whole foods, avoid too much processed stuff (tofu, seitan), no candy/beer/garbage food. Eat fruit - you need carbs to do your workouts. Protein builds muscle, but it is garbage for energy for workouts. But, one day per week, I would reward yourself - aka a cheat day. Since you might be cutting your calories (I cut by about 1000 per day for six months, and lost 80 pounds), your metabolism will slow down (some call it starvation mode). Thus, eating above your maintenance one day per week can work to "trick" the body out of "starvation mode." Does it work? Maybe, but you'll also go crazy if you don't let go of the ropes every now and then.

 

Weigh yourself in the morning, and not the day after your cheat day. Repeat after me: Not the day after your cheat day. And don't freak out if you gain a pound over the weekend - you're human, in a modern world, and it's probably water anyhow.

 

Rest: Make sure you rest, sleep a lot, more than normal. The body needs rest way more than we realize, and if you have anything resembling a regular life, I'm willing to bed you don't get enough sleep.

 

So, I guess that's what I would do. In sum:

 

1. Diet - cut calories by 500 each day (3500 per week) in order to lose 1 pound per week. Don't exceed a deficit of 1000 cals per day, eat clean, wholesum stuff (greens, peas, beans, decent protein powder, fruit), do not neglect carbs. Be patient.

2. Exercise - Train hard, and with variety. Build a foundation, and then progress. Be patient.

3. Rest - Sleep, dammit! And be patient.

 

Good luck.

 

PS. If you need a resource for exercises, check out my training journal, or http://www.exrx.net is a great resource. And start your own journal so we can follow along. Now get in there and tear it up!

 

Chris

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esqinchi - Wow, thanks for that reply! Sorry it took so long to respond. I somehow missed the notification in my email. I would like to get to lose 30-35 lbs. I have just started another workout routine... 4 different supersets, 2 exercises and 3 sets, heavy weights but it covers the whole body 3x a week. Maybe I should add in a cardio day??? I have a hard time with being patient. I need to work on that I'll start keeping a journal again. I used to do Weight Watchers and it was going great... but I don't know what happened. Thanks for your advice and taking the time to reply!

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esqinchi - Wow, thanks for that reply! Sorry it took so long to respond. I somehow missed the notification in my email. I would like to get to lose 30-35 lbs. I have just started another workout routine... 4 different supersets, 2 exercises and 3 sets, heavy weights but it covers the whole body 3x a week. Maybe I should add in a cardio day??? I have a hard time with being patient. I need to work on that I'll start keeping a journal again. I used to do Weight Watchers and it was going great... but I don't know what happened. Thanks for your advice and taking the time to reply!

 

I left a reply from earlier, but it didn't post for some reason... So I'll paraphrase...

 

I lost a ton of weight quickly mostly due to diet and regular exercise. Once I got to about 70lbs lost, I had a helluva time losing the next 25 or so (Started at 248, now 162). I would recommend buying an inexpensive digital food scale, weighing what you eat, and knowing how many calories you are consuming. As for training, if you are hitting the major muscle groups regularly, and working at a good pace to keep your heart rate up, I don't think cardio is all that necessary. It certainly helps though, if you want to be more well rounded (as an athlete, that is). I would recommend changing your training up every four to six weeks, so you aren't bored, and so there is little opportunity for muscle memory. Plus, new exercises are fun!

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  • 2 months later...

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