General Advice on Diet?
Discussion
Afternoon, ladies and gents.
Every other day I go to the gym. I run about four miles at a fairly leisurely 8mph average, cycle about 12km up a simulated hill, take a minute out, then row as hard as i can on the rowing machine's hardest setting for about a kilometre. Then I generally get back on the bike again until I've done an hour of cardio-related stuff.
It uses up a fair bit of energy, but it's not much of a stretch physically (apart from the last bit on the rowing machine but that's because the straps holding my feet in place tend to loosen up which means I have to use my legs more than I'd like! Still, no pain, no gain).
Then I go round doing about an hour of resistance weights. Not really doing too much in the way of free weights at the moment because I haven't had much guidance in that area and don't want to go mucking myself up... I'm going to be getting some advice on that tomorrow.
Despite this, and despite having a pretty balanced diet (occaisionally I find myself "giving in to the chicken" or eating a few chips) I reckon I could afford to lose half a stone.
It doesn't really seem to be happening though. I'm not in bad shape appearance-wise and they say the more fat you have to lose, the easier it is, so maybe that's part of the problem (as I don't look particularly overweight)... Admittedly, over the last couple of months I've spent a bit more time in the pub than I should have done, but I don't drink much on the whole, and don't touch lager.
I figure there must be something in my diet that I need to cut out so I can tone up more, but I'm not sure what. Surely it can't be bread? Any ideas? Or maybe I should try some specific fat-burning exercises? I can't go working myself up to the point of near-death at the gym, however, because I then have to drive home again! :(
Every other day I go to the gym. I run about four miles at a fairly leisurely 8mph average, cycle about 12km up a simulated hill, take a minute out, then row as hard as i can on the rowing machine's hardest setting for about a kilometre. Then I generally get back on the bike again until I've done an hour of cardio-related stuff.
It uses up a fair bit of energy, but it's not much of a stretch physically (apart from the last bit on the rowing machine but that's because the straps holding my feet in place tend to loosen up which means I have to use my legs more than I'd like! Still, no pain, no gain).
Then I go round doing about an hour of resistance weights. Not really doing too much in the way of free weights at the moment because I haven't had much guidance in that area and don't want to go mucking myself up... I'm going to be getting some advice on that tomorrow.
Despite this, and despite having a pretty balanced diet (occaisionally I find myself "giving in to the chicken" or eating a few chips) I reckon I could afford to lose half a stone.
It doesn't really seem to be happening though. I'm not in bad shape appearance-wise and they say the more fat you have to lose, the easier it is, so maybe that's part of the problem (as I don't look particularly overweight)... Admittedly, over the last couple of months I've spent a bit more time in the pub than I should have done, but I don't drink much on the whole, and don't touch lager.
I figure there must be something in my diet that I need to cut out so I can tone up more, but I'm not sure what. Surely it can't be bread? Any ideas? Or maybe I should try some specific fat-burning exercises? I can't go working myself up to the point of near-death at the gym, however, because I then have to drive home again! :(
Work out how many calories you're burning doing the excercise
It will probably work out at considerably less than one donut, or a couple of pints of bitter
On the plus side, this excersize is bloody good for you, keep it up. But if you want lose weight drop 200 calories a day out of your diet and you'll lose half a pound a week (numbers changed to protect the innocent)
It will probably work out at considerably less than one donut, or a couple of pints of bitter
On the plus side, this excersize is bloody good for you, keep it up. But if you want lose weight drop 200 calories a day out of your diet and you'll lose half a pound a week (numbers changed to protect the innocent)
Incorrigible said:
Work out how many calories you're burning doing the excercise
It will probably work out at considerably less than one donut, or a couple of pints of bitter
On the plus side, this excersize is bloody good for you, keep it up. But if you want lose weight drop 200 calories a day out of your diet and you'll lose half a pound a week (numbers changed to protect the innocent)
According to the lovely little "calories burnt" thing on the equipment I'm burning in the region of 450 calories on the running machine alone... And the bike told me I'd used up 110 kcals at one point...
I've always been sceptical of this though, largely because I don't really know how much energy one calorie represents. All I know is there are 42 kcals in a can of Red Bull (I don't know why I know that, but I do).
Just been to the cupboard and looked on the back of a Pot Noodle... Says there are 512 kcal in a pack!!! Won't be eating that then.
>> Edited by DanBoy on Tuesday 9th August 14:45
The last bit is always going to be the most tricky to get rid of, and yes it is obviously easier for someone who has a lot of excess fat to lose a lot more than someone who does not.
Make sure you drink plenty of water.
I dont drink beer either - Vodka is the alcoholic slimming drink of choice
Take the advice of a personal trainer who will be able to tailor a program specifically for your body shape/mass to have the best effect.
Make sure you fitness program is something that you feel you can maintain long term!
Make sure you drink plenty of water.
I dont drink beer either - Vodka is the alcoholic slimming drink of choice
Take the advice of a personal trainer who will be able to tailor a program specifically for your body shape/mass to have the best effect.
Make sure you fitness program is something that you feel you can maintain long term!
Have you weighed yourself with one of those scales that tells you your body fat? This is a much better indication of how you're doing than just weight.
It may also be a good idea to change your cardio routine as the body gets 'used' to doing the same thing.
As for diet - high protein, low carb tends to do the trick. If you must have carbs, have them in the morning and not evening.
It may also be a good idea to change your cardio routine as the body gets 'used' to doing the same thing.
As for diet - high protein, low carb tends to do the trick. If you must have carbs, have them in the morning and not evening.
Hello mate, just to give you a quick over veiw of me, I am 6 ft 5in, 17 - 17 1/2 stone, play rugby avidly ( train twice aweek and play once a week ), I used to work out for looks and put on a fair bit of muscle and then became a gym instructor, I am now own a furniture business and have lost the "cut" look but am fitter than I ever was ( just done 13 4 on the bleep test ). I just work out for health and rugby.
You seem to be spending a long time at the gym. Raise the intensity of your workouts and shortern them, you will have to push yourself though ( raise it over a period of time ), what you will do with this is raise the heart rate, this alone burns more more fat ( ie fuel ), think of it a bit like a car, you can pootle around and get good mpg ( distance for energy spent ) but if you spank it that figure drops. Similar sort of principle with the body, the body will always try and conserve energy, its natural preservation behaviour, so make it hard for you to run at a certain speed or distance, thats the speed you need to be at to maximise your efforts at the gym, more for less so to speak.
As for diets, they are all crap, if you put on a pound of muscle on your body you will burn a extra 100 cals a day just sustaining that muscle and using it in a day to day context. deits work great for a limited period but you end up adjusting the process your body stores and uses engery ( basically make the body think that energy is not a constant supply ie eating normally, and once the diet has finshed it then grabs all available energy from food, protein carbs fats etc and turns it all to stored energy ie fat ) you mess with your metabolic rate. this is the thing you need to change to stay consistantly at the right weight. you change this by making the body work hard on a reg basis, then the body won't turn all cals into stored energy as it will be expecting you to burn the energy any moment ( like money in the bank, easier to spend money in your pocket than go to the bank queue and withdraw it then spend it, same as fat, fat is the money in the bank, takes a while to withdraw it an use it ).
Tips for helping you along ? I cut coke out of my diet ( used to have one can a day at work ) I lost so much fat by doing that and nothing else ( same workouts etc ), drink more water, it helps the body and all its processes, making them work better, inturn making your body burn more fuel.
Main thing is mate don't try and lose "weight" try and adjust your body shape, I can be 16 1/2 stone and be unfit and have a 37in waist but I can also be 17 3/4 stone and be in shape and have a 35in waist, it not the weight it is what consitutes that weight that counts. Good luck
You seem to be spending a long time at the gym. Raise the intensity of your workouts and shortern them, you will have to push yourself though ( raise it over a period of time ), what you will do with this is raise the heart rate, this alone burns more more fat ( ie fuel ), think of it a bit like a car, you can pootle around and get good mpg ( distance for energy spent ) but if you spank it that figure drops. Similar sort of principle with the body, the body will always try and conserve energy, its natural preservation behaviour, so make it hard for you to run at a certain speed or distance, thats the speed you need to be at to maximise your efforts at the gym, more for less so to speak.
As for diets, they are all crap, if you put on a pound of muscle on your body you will burn a extra 100 cals a day just sustaining that muscle and using it in a day to day context. deits work great for a limited period but you end up adjusting the process your body stores and uses engery ( basically make the body think that energy is not a constant supply ie eating normally, and once the diet has finshed it then grabs all available energy from food, protein carbs fats etc and turns it all to stored energy ie fat ) you mess with your metabolic rate. this is the thing you need to change to stay consistantly at the right weight. you change this by making the body work hard on a reg basis, then the body won't turn all cals into stored energy as it will be expecting you to burn the energy any moment ( like money in the bank, easier to spend money in your pocket than go to the bank queue and withdraw it then spend it, same as fat, fat is the money in the bank, takes a while to withdraw it an use it ).
Tips for helping you along ? I cut coke out of my diet ( used to have one can a day at work ) I lost so much fat by doing that and nothing else ( same workouts etc ), drink more water, it helps the body and all its processes, making them work better, inturn making your body burn more fuel.
Main thing is mate don't try and lose "weight" try and adjust your body shape, I can be 16 1/2 stone and be unfit and have a 37in waist but I can also be 17 3/4 stone and be in shape and have a 35in waist, it not the weight it is what consitutes that weight that counts. Good luck
Forgot to mention the workout, try rowing/ cycling/ running at a constant speed for a ceratin distance but crank it up for the last quarter/third of the distance, count doing this as one set, do at least four sets.
IE row 600 metres
find a speed where you are making a bit of effort to row ( breathing heavier after 200-300 m), last 200 of the 600m give it your all, once you have reached 600m, slow it back down ( you will be knackered, if not your not trying hard enough ) the same consant speed ( it should be harder ) once you reach 1000 metres crank it back up again, slow back down at 1200m, keep the same speed ( should be harder still and you should be sweating like a bitch) thats two sets etc etc, adapt it for what ever excercise your doing.
IE row 600 metres
find a speed where you are making a bit of effort to row ( breathing heavier after 200-300 m), last 200 of the 600m give it your all, once you have reached 600m, slow it back down ( you will be knackered, if not your not trying hard enough ) the same consant speed ( it should be harder ) once you reach 1000 metres crank it back up again, slow back down at 1200m, keep the same speed ( should be harder still and you should be sweating like a bitch) thats two sets etc etc, adapt it for what ever excercise your doing.
DanBoy,
the resistance setting on the rowing machine makes no difference to energy expended to go a certain distance. If you set it to the lightest, you have to row more strokes to go the same distance. Rowing should depend 70-80% on the legs. They have the biggest muscles (well for most people they do). I do 30 minutes on the Concpet 2 three times a week and use over 500 calories each time according to the computerwhile travelling between 7.5 and 8km.
I lost 7.5kg (16-17lbs) between March and July without changing my diet using the C2. (I did cut the alcohol a bit too). My weight is now back to where it should be (1.88m, 87.5kg - 6'2", 13st11lbs)
>> Edited by Zod on Tuesday 9th August 15:26
the resistance setting on the rowing machine makes no difference to energy expended to go a certain distance. If you set it to the lightest, you have to row more strokes to go the same distance. Rowing should depend 70-80% on the legs. They have the biggest muscles (well for most people they do). I do 30 minutes on the Concpet 2 three times a week and use over 500 calories each time according to the computerwhile travelling between 7.5 and 8km.
I lost 7.5kg (16-17lbs) between March and July without changing my diet using the C2. (I did cut the alcohol a bit too). My weight is now back to where it should be (1.88m, 87.5kg - 6'2", 13st11lbs)
>> Edited by Zod on Tuesday 9th August 15:26
Zod said:
DanBoy,
the resistance setting on the rowing machine makes no difference to energy expended to go a certain distance. If you set it to the lightest, you have to row more strokes to go the same distance. Rowing should depend 70-80% on the legs. They have the biggest muscles (well for most people they do). I do 30 minutes on the Concpet 2 three times a week and use over 500 calories each time according to the computerwhile travelling between 7.5 and 8km.
This is not true, it is the amount of effort put into the stoke X the amount of stokes X the time period in which those strokes are done which equals energy spent, not just how many stokes you do. Also rowing is not 70-80 % legs, the first part of the stoke is legs and then the final part is spilt between lats and traps ( bringing the bar to the chest) and the lower back ( leaning back to maximise the stoke length). If you just mainly use the legs then you are wasting the full energy burning available from rowing correctly. Again not working longer, but by doing it right you could maximise your efforts and time spent rowing.
Be careful with the calorie burner read outs, they are not that precise and just give you a rough idea.
maxf said:
Don't mince about on the rower at level 10 - level 4/5 is roughly the resistance water offers. Use 10 if you A)want to your back up, or B) are doing hard intervals/power 10 type of training.
And Rowing IS a leg sport!!!
IS it ? running is a leg sport, rowing with out your arms and back ? not going to get very far are you. I admit that the legs are a large part of it but you row with big powerful legs and don't train the back and arms and you will have a short stoke length and get cained in any sort of race, sea, lake, or river. So rowing IS a leg AND back and arm sport.
tampon said:
tampon said:
I am 6 ft 5in, 17 - 17 1/2 stone
Jesus, I'd like to see you go horse riding and roller-skating with that!
I would like to see the horse that can roller blade whilst being ridern !
Top name for such a big bloke,
I thought I was doing ok at 6'3" and 161/2 stone.
Mental note must try harder
Phil
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