Thread: Just have some questions!

It sounds to me like you just need to re-evalute your diet and training plan. You've got to a point where you just need to be more detailed and thorough with those things.

Fat burners have a negligable effect really anyway, you've made fantastic progress already without them, theres no reason to start using them now!

Nice going so far by the way!

My diet is really good and i train about 5-6 times a week i just cant seem to get the result I want, its why i was going to try Meltdown. thanks for your input though

You say your diet is really good, but its prob not. Do you track what you eat?

Please post your maint. level, you daily intake including protein, fats and carbs. And what sort of training program do you use? Please post this as well.

Originally Posted by Lacey12

My diet is really good and i train about 5-6 times a week i just cant seem to get the result I want, its why i was going to try Meltdown. thanks for your input though

how long have you been dieting? what is a normal day for you? what is your training like?

Originally Posted by Moondogg

You say your diet is really good, but its prob not. Do you track what you eat?

Please post your maint. level, you daily intake including protein, fats and carbs. And what sort of training program do you use? Please post this as well.

I dont track my what I eat, I eat low fat foods with alot of protein and some carbs. For my training I do about 1 hour of cardio 4-6 times a week and then work on my body with weights. Im not sure what else I could do since im new to this whole thing. Any suggestions would be alot of help and be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by nni

how long have you been dieting? what is a normal day for you? what is your training like?

I started to work out october of 2007. Ive been dieting since then. I train about 4-7 times a week, it would be more but im busy due to school and work lately.

Originally Posted by Lacey12

I dont track my what I eat, I eat low fat foods with alot of protein and some carbs. For my training I do about 1 hour of cardio 4-6 times a week and then work on my body with weights. Im not sure what else I could do since im new to this whole thing. Any suggestions would be alot of help and be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by Lacey12

I started to work out october of 2007. Ive been dieting since then. I train about 4-7 times a week, it would be more but im busy due to school and work lately.

you HAVE to track what you eat. if you don't, then how can you seriously think you will be successful? your cals and macros could vary wildly without ever knowing.

another thing is, if you have been dieting for 15 months, then you are doing more damage than good. your body does not want you to diet, it likes fat, if you diet for too long, your body will eventually reset its maintenance levels to the ones that have been most consistent. in other words, your diet, is now your body's normal calorie level. to see fat loss, you would have to drop your levels even lower. this is unhealthy.

my suggestion is stop dieting. continue to work out, and let your calorie levels go back to normal for 2-4 weeks. after that, go back to dieting, this time, write what you eat, and how many calories you get. you want 500 calories below your maintenance. if you keep accurate logs, losing weight is easier and less frustrating.

Alright so you got it by now!

If youre not tracking what you eat youre wasting alot of time.
Stop cutting fat. Fat doesnt make you fat. You need good fats especially.

An hour of cardio is totally unnecessary and probably unhealthy for you at this point.

Oh yea, meltdown and fat burners are a waste of time for noticeable results. Just keep your money and spend it on good food.

Track your intake on Fitday.com and lets see what youre eating. yea its a pain at first but get over it. Other wise do the research, and write down your fat grams,protein grams,carb grams,total calories every day and track your weight. This is what we're gonna keep asking you for anyways. Everyon says there diet is good. You've gotten pretty good advice so far.

Originally Posted by nni

you HAVE to track what you eat. if you don't, then how can you seriously think you will be successful? your cals and macros could vary wildly without ever knowing.

another thing is, if you have been dieting for 15 months, then you are doing more damage than good. your body does not want you to diet, it likes fat, if you diet for too long, your body will eventually reset its maintenance levels to the ones that have been most consistent. in other words, your diet, is now your body's normal calorie level. to see fat loss, you would have to drop your levels even lower. this is unhealthy.

my suggestion is stop dieting. continue to work out, and let your calorie levels go back to normal for 2-4 weeks. after that, go back to dieting, this time, write what you eat, and how many calories you get. you want 500 calories below your maintenance. if you keep accurate logs, losing weight is easier and less frustrating.

Well I couldnt say ive been dieting for 15 months...Ive just been watching what i eat alot more closely. I will definetly start to record what I intake per day. Thanks a ton for the feed back

- Chris.

I have one more question. Im currently 6 foot tall, 180 pounds now and about 18% body fat. What should i be aiming for towards body fat percentage and weight?

Hey there Lacey - first up, MAJOR props for the sixty pounds lost - that's PHENOMENAL!!!

What you are discovering is that the journey from "obese" to "normal weight" is different from the journey from "normal weight" to "lean". The rules change, and good for you for agreeing to track your intake. I'll echo everyone here when I say it's a ROYAL pain in the ass at first, but it becomes second-nature within a matter of days.

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal is free. Enter a "typical" looking day and report back on the "macros" - the total calories, and the grams of protein, carb and fat.

Your training is also due for a change. You have trained your body to become efficient with all that cardio. Now you need to train it to be INEFFICIENT - let's get a proper lifting programme going for you.

Can you describe the lifting you currently do? It'll make it easier for us to tell you how you might switch it up.

Your height and weight are well-matched. For now I'd diet in such a way as to neither gain nor lose while you bring up your lifts. You can resume dieting in a few months, okay? A "good" bodyfat depends on whom you ask, but most men are probably fairly happy with their appearance at around 10%, which you would hit at around 165 if you lost no muscle at all - which WON'T happen if you continue to do the amount of cardio you are doing - you need to drop that back, ramp up the weights and tighten up your diet.

Originally Posted by Built

Hey there Lacey - first up, MAJOR props for the sixty pounds lost - that's PHENOMENAL!!!

What you are discovering is that the journey from "obese" to "normal weight" is different from the journey from "normal weight" to "lean". The rules change, and good for you for agreeing to track your intake. I'll echo everyone here when I say it's a ROYAL pain in the ass at first, but it becomes second-nature within a matter of days.

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal is free. Enter a "typical" looking day and report back on the "macros" - the total calories, and the grams of protein, carb and fat.

Your training is also due for a change. You have trained your body to become efficient with all that cardio. Now you need to train it to be INEFFICIENT - let's get a proper lifting programme going for you.

Can you describe the lifting you currently do? It'll make it easier for us to tell you how you might switch it up.

Your height and weight are well-matched. For now I'd diet in such a way as to neither gain nor lose while you bring up your lifts. You can resume dieting in a few months, okay? A "good" bodyfat depends on whom you ask, but most men are probably fairly happy with their appearance at around 10%, which you would hit at around 165 if you lost no muscle at all - which WON'T happen if you continue to do the amount of cardio you are doing - you need to drop that back, ramp up the weights and tighten up your diet.

Hey Built, Thanks for the props , I registered to fitday and I started tracking my food intake per day. My current "lifting schedule" is, I usually start off with about 20 minutes of cardio during the week and then work on back and bicepts, i work chest a few times a week along with tricepts and I rarely get a shoulder work out in, I dont normally work legs that much because of all the cardio I have been doing it just kills me!

If anyone could suggest a better schedule for me to get better results it would be greatly appreciated. One more questions, how much protein/fat/calories and stuff like that should i be consuming at my weight (180) and schedule?

Thanks!

- Chris.

Chris, thanks for setting up your fitday.

Here's some reading to get you started on a more appropriate programme now that you're so lean.

For workouts - do your cardio AFTER you lift, and it's time to start working legs.

Do this for now:
Got Built? » Basic whole-body workout
(Sub in barbell squats for goblet squats)

For your diet, well, just track on fitday for now. When you have a few day's worth, bump this thread and I'll help you from there, okay?

Originally Posted by Built

Chris, thanks for setting up your fitday.

Here's some reading to get you started on a more appropriate programme now that you're so lean.

For workouts - do your cardio AFTER you lift, and it's time to start working legs.

Do this for now:
Got Built? » Basic whole-body workout
(Sub in barbell squats for goblet squats)

For your diet, well, just track on fitday for now. When you have a few day's worth, bump this thread and I'll help you from there, okay?

Sounds good bro, thanks for all the help! Ill get back to you by about thursday. Have a good one

- Chris

You too, bro.

<giggles>

ARRRRR....
Built is FAAARR from being a bro!

.......
Haha but every other person makes that mistake.

Oh yea, time to get you to the next level....get them legs working. You're right cardio drains the legs so that's another reason to save it for after your workouts. Listen to Built...SHE is the bomb!

Built, very sorry :P thanks for the advice though

With my current workout schedule how many cals/fat/carbs and such should i be having per day?

Originally Posted by Lacey12

Built, very sorry :P thanks for the advice though

LOL - don't sweat it - it happens all the time. It's an honest mistake - most of the members and mods here are male.

Originally Posted by Lacey12

With my current workout schedule how many cals/fat/carbs and such should i be having per day?

This depends somewhat on how much you consume now.

Ballpark minimums for protein and fat are a gram per pound lean mass for protein, and half a gram per pound lean mass for fat, but this varies from person to person. I for example like my protein a LOT higher than the 115g my lean mass would set as "minimum", likewise I prefer my fats to be considerably higher than 57.5g.

Well im 180 pounds and since im trying to cut body fat, wouldnt me consuming 90g's of fat interfere with that?

Why would consuming 90g of fat interfere with fat loss?

Listen, you need to figure out your maintenance calories.

Suppose yours are 2500 a day (I'm just tossing a number out to play with) and you reduce 'em to 2000 a day to cut.

It won't matter if your diet looks like this:

180 grams protein
90 grams fat
118 grams carbohydrate
2000 Calories

or this:

220 grams protein
100 grams fat
55 grams carbohydrate
2000 calories

or this:

171 grams protein
70 grams fat
171 grams carbohydrate
2000 calories

- in each case you'll lose about a pound a week. Pick a way to reduce your calories so you feel comfortable.

Oh I got it now, thanks alot built, I still have to plan out my diet for cutting, since i found out its acually really crap.

- Chris

Good luck. Do your best to stay comfortable while you do this - dieting gets harder the leaner you are.

Maintenance gets a lot easier though.

. Could you suggest times and some foods i should eat through out my day? Starting in 2 weeks i work out everyday during school its a wicked class. Im just not sure when to eat during the day because my school is really strick on eating during class. The weight lifting class ends at 9:30 and i have school until 3. So during this time when would be the best time to get some food going

What time are your breaks?

How about a protein shake right after you train?

Originally Posted by Built

What time are your breaks?

How about a protein shake right after you train?

My break is at 9:30 and another at 1:30, I was already going to pack a dry protein shake so after i train I can have it.

dude dont waste ur money of fat burners they dont work

Originally Posted by Kran

dude dont waste ur money of fat burners they dont work

I heard that meltdown works wonders