definition

[aura]

i am trying to lose body fat am currently 26% and 132 lbs. i eat 1500 to 1900 calories per day i lift weights for about an hour and do 20 min cardio everyday. i heard that you have to give up fruit to get lean, is this true for vegans? should i cut calories more? would appreciate some advice, my nutriant values are about 20g of good fats 130 to 150g protein and about 40% carbs don't know grams.

[Guest]

Actually I get much more lean when I give up everything else and eat mostly fruit(I'm not really recommending that but it works for me). Its definitely a more healthy way of losing fat too...rather than forcing your body to take in way more protein than it can handle. The key for me is not eating for a few hours after training. It hurts your recovery time but it forces your muscles to eat your fat to recover when it would rather have simple sugars.

[aura]

but won't your body use your mucsle if you don't eat after working out?

[Guest]

You lose muscle cutting fat anyway...at least if you want to do it quickly. If you don't want to lose muscle while getting lean you've just gotta eat a little bit less and not force it. Thing is...everyone wants to be lean now and not later. Even pro bodybuilders sacrifice losing significant amounts of muscle to get lean...but gaining fat was the only way they got so big to begin with. So in the end its worth it but they can only maintain that for so long before they need to pack fat back on again.

[Lean and Green]

The key for me is not eating for a few hours after training

 

interesting concept potter. I remember an old school concept that it was best to train on an empty stomach when you wake up to lose weight so you burn your own fuel.

 

I wonder which is more effective, not eating beforehand or not eating afterwards. Certainly, I wouldn't want to do both......

[Im Your Man]

To lose weight you don't have to cut on fruits. The only thing really important is to consume less calories than what you burn. to lose one pound you must burn 3 500 calories more than you consume (like 500 calories per day for one week). Reducing food calories by 300 and burning 200 more during activity. 1 pound of butter is just like 1 pound of bodyfat, you eat it or you burn it, it always equals 3 500 calories. If you want to lose weight, you don't need to eat right after work out, the body continues to burn lots of calories (from the glycogen reserve inside muscles and from the fat, more than from lean mass), so you can wait at least 30 minutes.

 

I'm not an expert but I can assure you that you're eating too much proteins. Research have showed that athletes eating 30 grams per day performed 3 times longer on cycle than those eating 60 grams or more per day, that's because protein desintegration produces lots of toxic waste, some are rejected by the body but there's still some in the muscle fibers, causing lactic fatigue. If you're lifting weights, you can eat 60 grams because you break more muscles than for endurance. Populations who live the longer only eat about 30 grams/day. Too much will accelerate the ageing of a person, and all his cells. I suggest you to read the "how much proteins do we need" at this address : http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/proteins/how-much-protein-do-we-need.html

[Guest]

The key for me is not eating for a few hours after training

 

interesting concept potter. I remember an old school concept that it was best to train on an empty stomach when you wake up to lose weight so you burn your own fuel.

 

I wonder which is more effective, not eating beforehand or not eating afterwards. Certainly, I wouldn't want to do both......

 

I've done both and it works great if your willing to feel crappy for an extended period of time. You learn to get used to it after a while.

[aura]

thanks everyone

[DV]

Hi Aura!

 

How tall are you? I'm asking so that I can get an idea of how much muscle mass you have relative to your frame. If you're too thin, it can be really difficult to lose fat because you don't have enough muscle for a higher metabolism.

 

I'm in a cutting phase right now and am starting at about 21% bodyfat. I don't do any cardio but might incorporate it 2 days per week if needed. What I have found, for myself, is that I am a very slow loser. I cannot go below one pound of fat loss per week without losing muscle. Also, I have to eat every 2-3 hours if I want to keep my lean mass.

 

I decrease my caloric intake by 500 some days, 700 some days and only 300 some days so that my metabolism won't set at a lower rate. I also lift just as hard as I did during my bulking phase.

 

I'm not sold on a low carb diet being necessary for fat loss. I believe that tight blood glucose control (and therefore tight insulin release) might help with fat loss. I also think eating processed carbs and high glycemic load carbs is detrimental no matter what your goals. Therefore, I don't eat white flours, sugar/maple syrup/dates/jams/etc, and most oils. The only oils I use are virgin olive oil, flax and canola - or high-oleic sunflower.

 

Being a woman, I think it's especially important to NOT allow yourself to get hungry. It is the rare woman whose hormones do not push her over the hunger edge at certain times of her cycle. Therefore, I always have a rescue food with me if I'm traveling or get stuck at work late.

[Zack]

Therefore, I don't eat white flours, sugar/maple syrup/dates/jams/etc

 

When you said you cut out all simple carbs, I assumed all fruit was part of that. Guess not?

[DV]

The only fruit I cut out was fruit juice, dried fruits and very ripe bananas. (Okay, I cut out all bananas some time ago but that's for environmental reasons).

 

I eat most of my fruit in a smoothie with protein powder and ground flax seed. Between the fruit fiber, the protein and the flax fiber/fat, the glycemic load is low and therefore you shouldn't get a big spike in your blood sugar and insulin. This is relatively new nutritional science and it's still considered controversial by some, so don't take my word for it.

[Octopussoir]

For me during the summer I maintained 3.2%bf for over 2 months. What I did was upped my fruits!! Sounds crazy, but thats what worked for me. I cannot even remember really taking in extra protein than what my normal, fruits, veggies, rice, and beans were giving me.

[aura]

i am 5'4"

[DV]

So, at 26% body fat and 132 pounds, you are carrying approximately 34 pounds of fat. Your lean body weight is about 98 pounds. That is not a lot of mass to burn fat so you might want to up that first, before trying to take off more fat. If you're not looking to bulk at this stage, then you might try making some changes to shake up your metabolism.

 

First, change the cardio. Your body is now accustomed to 20 minutes per day and it's not going to drop any more fat based on the same routine. That much cardio can actually be detrimental to hanging onto muscle. I would personally only do cardio 2x per week and really up the intensity of my lifting. I personally focus on heavy weights in the 7-11 rep range to hold onto mass - but different things work for different people.

 

Lifting 7 days per week is considered overtraining. Your muscles grow when you are at rest. You really need to rest them about 2 days per week. Right now, your body is in a constant state of stress.

 

Don't eat the same number of calories every day while cutting back or your body will acclimate to the lower number. You shouldn't lose more than a pound of fat per week for your size (maybe less) or you will definitely be losing muscle. If you are not losing at your current caloric intake then you need to cut back. In order to preserve muscle, I believe eating some form of protein/calories every 2 to 3 hours is a good idea. I'm not sure of the optimal grams of protein but I believe that unless you know you are eating the optimal ratio/amount of amino acids, it's better to go with more rather than less.

 

These are my opinions only. You are relatively short and don't have a lot of fat to lose. Because of that, you will need to do this slowly. It stinks, but that's they way it is if you wish to preserve muscle - which you do, of course. I have a similar amount of fat weight as you on a 5'10" frame (148 right now) and I cannot lose more than 1 pound per week without giving up muscle.

 

Good luck!

[aura]

thank you, what do you recomend for me to build more mucsle? actualy i just cut back on cardio and starting a split routine, i work different mucsle groups everyday, so my mucsles do get rest about 2 days inbetween. i was on a program where i did full body weights 3 days a week and 45 min cardio on the other days. so i just changed it.

[DV]

I don't have a log but you could look at SeaSiren for a woman's routine (who is not interested in bulking), Zack or Troy for a routine which includes bulking - unless they're in a cutting phase since last I checked.

 

My workouts are as follows:

Legs - 2 to 4 compound exercises, 1 to 3 isolation (total of 5)

Chest - 5 exercises, some form of bench press (total of 5)

Rest

Back - 1 or 2 compound exercise, total of 5

Rest

Shoulders - 5 exercises

Biceps/Triceps - 3 exercises each, some form of dips

 

I add abs and calves on different days. I mix it up each workout with some supersets, some low reps for strength and some higher reps for endurance. But most of the sets are done in the 7-11 rep range.

[beforewisdom]

Do you do any kind of cardio to warm up? I find that stretching alone doesn't cut it for me. I don't get as much power out of my muscles unless I do a little cardio first.

[DV]

It's a fast 5 minute walk to the gym - that's my basic warm-up. I also warm up for my primary exercise with light weights. I don't see how the stair climber will help me warm up my chest or back, for instance, so I warm up with the motion I will be doing for that body part.