Please give me feedback on my diet/exercise regime

[Kenny537]

Haha I would hope walking would be fine.

I will do what you're saying about eating 1g protein per lb of LBM and .5g fat per lb of LBM and 25g fiber. However, I don't think that estimation of LBM is accurate because I was 150 something pounds a year or 2 ago. It might have even been less than 150 at one point, maybe 145. But I still had the belly fat, probably around the same amount that I do now. I am 170 now.. and I still look the same .. I think. Maybe I just gained some muscle. But it still makes sense that I had the same belly fat at 150 and at 170 since belly fat is the last to go.

How much of a deficit should I eat at?

I am assuming my maintenance calories are 14x my current body weight so about 2400 calories. So now right now, for the last couple weeks, I have been eating at a deficit, but not by much, only like a 100 calories. Although I did gain a couple pounds .. so I am guessing those are just noob muscle gains?

Thanks!

 

[Built]

Okay, then our estimate of your lean mass will give you... um, seven grams more protein a day than you need.

OH NO!!!

See how unimportant accuracy is here?

If you read the link in my sig, you'd know what deficit to run and how to build your diet.

If you gained on 2400, you ate at a surplus, not a deficit. To lose, you'll need to eat less than you require. If you gained, by definition you at MORE than you require. Oddly enough, muscles do not defy Newton's laws any more than the rest of your body.

Try 2000.

You could try 200g protein, 80g fat and 120g carb if you like - or you could drop the carbs down to say 50-60g on non-training days and up to 150-180g on training days if you'd like to have extra food/carbs on the training days. It all comes down to running a deficit. You just need to find a way to do it that doesn't make you crazy.

 

[Merkaba]

Also AM card is a good idea before your first meal. Then you are exercising on a fast. Good for fat consumption by your body.

Also good for chewing through muscle gains. Thus limiting your "toning up" and decreasing strength and body composition

 

[MDR]

Thanks for the input.

I am not sure I understand how the ratios obfuscate. Could you expand on that please?

I train in the evening after I work. Around 6 30 PM. So yes, at night. But I don't sleep til around midnight (ideally). So I'm only getting around 6 hrs of sleep unfortunately. I try to fall asleep earlier but I just can't for some reason.

I am guessing that I am losing weight... but I am not sure. In the week that I have been training, I have seen some muscle improvements in my arms.. but my weight has been at about 170 consistently. I believe this is because I am losing fat and gaining muscle so it's evening out. I am going to measure my body fat % tonight with skinfolds so hopefully I can keep track of my progress that way.

I read that creatine is beneficial for when you are bulking, and should not be used when cutting. Is this not true?

Thanks

Obfuscate means to get in the way of comprehension or understanding. Seems to me that Built was offering a simpler way to understand your diet, and that the ratios are only serving to confuse the issue at hand. Simply focusing on grams and calories makes it easier, while focusing on ratios only complicates matters.

 

[Kenny537]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Alright Built, I am in the process of designing my diet with your parameters. One question - you guys are saying an insulin spike is not necessary? But does it help at all? I still have p90x recovery left over - should I use them after my workouts? Or should I completely eliminate those from my diet.

I am trying to get my preworkout and pwo nutrition down right now. What is your opinion on the superpump 250 I was taking?

 

[Kenny537]

So here are my macros on training days:

1960 calories

143 carbs, 216 protein, 62 fat, 20 fiber 91 sugar

I know it's not exactly what you said - but I'm not sure what else I can do to change it. I think the sugars are very high.

6:30 AM

1 cup goat milk, 1 scoop optimum nutrition whey, 5 asparagus spears, multi vitamin, 2 flax seed oil pils)


9:15 AM
1 cup Greek Style lowfat plain yogurt +


12:15 PM

omelet + tomato/broccoli/spinach/onion


3:15 PM

1/4 block tofu + cabbage


6M - 1.5 scoops of whey protein + apple

6:15 PM - 1 scoop of superpump 250

6:30 - 8:00 PM - workout / p90x recovery drink


8:30 - 1 scoop whey


11:30 - 12 - cottage cheese / avocado / flax seed oil / walnuts


On non training days, I will lower carbs from 143 to 65 by having no recovery drink/superpump (-48), no apple (-14) , and I will replace cottage cheese with 2 scoops casein (-15), the calories will be lowered by around 300 though .. not sure what I can do to increase this without also increasing carbs.


Does that look okay? Now I will try to get my exercise regime down!

 

[Built]

You're a vegetarian, that's right.

Ditch the tofu. Soy is not a food you should be eating daily. Flax seed oil won't convert to EPA/DHA to any appreciable extent. You don't eat fish at all, do you?

 

[Kenny537]

Thanks for the quick response.

No, sorry. No fish either. So what should I do? Replace the tofu with another whey shake? More liquid egg whites? I heard soy isn't so bad for males as long as it is minimal.

I should ditch the flax oil as well - I thought it was the next best thing to fish oil.

 

[Built]

The soy thing, you'll have to play it by ear. Some feel it's okay, some don't. I CAN tell you it can interfere with thyroid function by competing with the thyroid for iodine, and that it is a source of phytoestrogen. In cultures where soy is a larger part of the diet, so too is seaweed - an iodine source. Fermented soy is safer to eat. Cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables may help you clear the metabolites of estrogen a little faster - they contain indole-3-carbinol Indole-3-carbinol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flax is in no way a substitute for fish oil. ALA must convert to EPA/DHA via delta-6-desaturation, and this enzymatic process may yield as litte as a few percent of your flax oil dose.

You can buy algae-based EPA/DHA. It is VERY expensive, but it exists.

By the way, as a vegetarian, creatine is a very good addition to your diet. I'd suggest 5g a day. The supplements you list, I don't know what's in them. I don't buy premixed supps - like most who have been at this for a while, I just get creatine monohydrate, dextrose, etc and make my own potions.

 

[Kenny537]

Well I am having cabbage with my tofu. But I was just doing it for the fiber. So would you recommend just eliminating the tofu? What should I replace it with?

As for the algae based epa/dha - what about this? h.t ~ t p://w ww.v-pure (dot) com
I can buy 180 capsules for about 50$ with shipping.

Okay, I will look into creatine. Do you recommend a particular brand or does it matter? Also, when should I have the creatine (if that matters). Dextrose supplementation is something I was going to look into, but I have the recovery formula which contains both dextrose and maltodextrin. Would this be suitable?

Thanks!

 

[Built]

Dextrose and malto are nearly identical - the difference is in the osmolality, which won't matter unless you're an endurance athlete. Use your "recovery" stuff until it's gone, then just skip it. I use white rice in a meal pre and or post workout for my carb, when I bother at all. Creatine, I buy monohydrate because it's the one that's been researched to death, and the one other creatine formulations are measured against in the literature. Many other formulations work as well as creatine monohydrate. I remain unconvinced any work better. I just buy whatever brand is on sale. To me, they're all the same. Take it in your pre or post workout shake. Or just knock back a teaspoon with water on your non-training days.

The soy thing, it's really something you'll have to decide for yourself. PubMed home look up soy and testosterone.

Those caps are the ones. Each cap supplies 0.2g EPA/DHA. My fish oil caps supply .3g EPA/DHA and I take ten of them for the 3g EPA/DHA ten grams of fish oil provides. You will need 15 caps to provide the same EPA/DHA as 10 fish oil caps.

 

[Kenny537]

Okay, I got it about the creatine. I will use the recovery drinks until they are gone. After that, have white rice + protein? How close to your workouts pre and post do you have the white rice? Is it with whey?

Oh wow. Seriously? I have to take 15 capsules a day? That 50$ supply of 180 caps will only last a dozen days then. Definitely not something I can afford! No other alternatives??

I will go to the gym tomorrow and try out those exercises you specified in your newbie guide. Thanks!

 

[Built]

The alternative is eating fatty fish, or taking fish oil caps. I buy 300 at costco for 15 bucks - and that lasts me a month.

Re eating: how about "when you're hungry"?

Good luck.

 

[Kenny537]

Fiiiiine. I'll eat when I am hungry ... crazy talk..

I am going to start the workout/diet tomorrow. Hopefully this neck strain is gone by then. I got a membership at lifetime. I will try your whole body workout that you have outlined in your blog. I am not too experienced with deadlifts and squats and things like that, but I'll try! Thanks!

 

[Built]

Try the squats with a dumbbell - goblet squats - until you get the form. For deads, watch youtube videos and make sure you keep the weight close to (read: in contact with) your body.

 

[Kenny537]

Hey Built - thanks for all the help so far, I really appreciate it!

I worked out for the first time today. I forgot to take creatine though, I will start taking it everyday starting tomorrow. I bought the micronized monohydrate creatine. The p90x recovery drink also has creatine, but only 500 mg from what I am reading. Should I still take the 5g creatine even when I take the recovery drink? I heard that some recommend cycling creatine. Should I do this?

Here are some comments/concerns I had about my workout today.

- the pull ups on the smith machine are insanely hard - I can barely do one, so I did Lat pulldowns instead (50lbs on both sides)
- I did Goblet squats with 35 lbs ... but on the video that you have in your blog, it says Goblet squats are only for demonstration and for show so you can get the form down, and they wouldn't recommend using a high weight for this. They are talking about doing air squats or something if I want to use a high weight.
- I did 10 lbs on the Roman Deadlift - I think I can add more though - I'm not sure my form is perfect.. but I did feel changes in my lower back right after, so I think that is good. Should I switch it up sometimes to do traditional deadlifts or any other kinds of deadlifts? FYI the roman deadlift link in your blog is broken .

- for C1 - I did them on the compound row machine - is this okay? 155 lbs. I also did the lat pulldown instead of weighted chins. So I used two machines. You mentioned several times in your whole body workout blog about the advantage of free weights - but you are giving machine alternatives. So I am guessing you prefer I use the free weights? The rows will not be a problem free weights, but the chin ups will be hard to get 3 sets of 5.


I am confused on your D ab workout. You are saying to do it sort of like the link you provided, but no twisting. But there is no twisting in the way they do it in the link.
What I did was just what they said, with the exercise ball, but I held on to a 45 lb weight while doing them.


For the cardio - can I shoot some hoops instead of walking on the treadmill for 20 min? Nothing intense, just shooting around.

What do you recommend for stretching pre and post workout? I am reading your high intensity interval foreplay blog, but I am getting the impression that it is for HIIT. Although you are suggesting it for pre-workout so I will do it if you agree. What about post workout?

Thanks again!

 

[Built]

Yeah, take the creatine anyway. Half a gram is nothing.

Do negative chins on the smith. Self-assist with your toes. These work better than assisted chins or lat pulldowns. When you're stronger, you'll be able to do the positives, but for now the negatives will do plenty of damage.
Use the goblet squats to learn form - once you're holding an 80-lb dumbbell, you are probably ready to try barbell squats.
RDLs you should feel in your hams, not your back. Hold the weight closer to your body, like you're rolling a rolling pin down your body and back up.
Stick to free weights wherever possible.

The vid for the crunches changed - I updated "homework I" - thanks for the heads-up.
Hoops are fine.
High intensity interval foreplay is excellent warmup for weights, or for sprinting. Post workout, slow stretches are ideal.

Cheers.

 

[unclem]

Fiiiiine. I'll eat when I am hungry ... crazy talk..

I am going to start the workout/diet tomorrow. Hopefully this neck strain is gone by then. I got a membership at lifetime. I will try your whole body workout that you have outlined in your blog. I am not too experienced with deadlifts and squats and things like that, but I'll try! Thanks!

ive seen people use p90x with great success , but, they were on gear. but it did make them cut and shredded. u dont want that. u got alot of great info. i can add u can get epa/dha omega3 fish oils at rite aide and vitamin shoppe. and just eatt when hungry and listen to built and the others. but i would avoid the creatine.it isnt hard getting cut up if u get the right advice. iam just learning alot from my trainer and here but i paid for my trainer your getting good knowledge here for free. just use simple things and eat smart and keep yourself in check and youll be ok. good luck.

 

[Kenny537]

Thanks Built - I will try what you said tomorrow. So I should not cycle the creatine?
You recommend doing this workout three days a week in your blog. Was that recommendation just for people completely new to fitness? Or should I stick to that as well for now? I guess that makes sense since it is a whole body workout. Maybe I can do yoga on an off-day?

Built - what would you recommend for people that are older (my parents). They are pretty unhealthy and I am trying to set a diet for them to start off with but I also want them to exercise. But obviously they cannot do these high resistance exercises. I am sure they can still do resistance exercises, but just not max out or anything of course. My dad is 50 but has health problems and my mom is 47 and had knee replacement surgery on both her knees less than 9 months ago.

unclem - Can you expand on why I should avoid the creatine? Also, I do not want to eat fish - I am vegetarian (lacto-ovo).

According to Built - flaxseed is no good for a significant amount of EPA/DHA - do you know any good deals for algae based EPA/DHA? I haven't looked much yet, but perhaps if I find something in liquid form rather than pill form, it will be cheaper.

Thanks!

 

[Built]

There is no rationale behind cycling creatine. I don't know why unclem doesn't recommend creatine - it's great for cutting because it helps your muscles hold more water - and anything that pushes water into your muscles - with no calories - while cutting is a good thing. This is particularly helpful for vegetarians. Go to PubMed home to read all the good things about creatine.

Kenny, your mom is my age. I started training at 38, while overweight and on type II diabetes meds. I started with the same type of training I suggest in the link in my sig - but stupidly light. If they are both fat, the most important thing will be for them to get an iron grip on their diets. If they are VERY fat, I highly recommend Atkins. That's what I started with, and it really was ideal for me as a fat woman with an out-of-control appetite. They can accompany this with walking for now, or any form of low-impact, low-to-moderate movement they will do. They should both be seen by an exercise physiologist of some sort (NOT an ordinary personal trainer, for the love of God...) to see what they CAN be doing, safely, with regard to weights.

 

[Kenny537]

Thanks for the link. Some of those PubMed articles go over my head because they are too scientific, but I'm trying to understand them. Some of them are really informative and I'm able to find some I can understand. So you recommend I only workout 3x a week?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10584048 - what do you think of that study? I know it's a study for older men - but it's still seems like bad news for me haha.

My parents are not very fat, but I think their weight is gradually increasing. And they don't have time to work out. But my mom has a high body fat % ( she was measured at 67% by her new personal trainer ). Although I don't even think that is possible, and even if it is, I do not believe it is accurate.

My dad has high cholesterol and asthma and takes a bunch of medication for that. Including a fish oil pill at night along with his other medications. Besides the unhealthy, processed junk stuff he eats during the day, at night it is usually typical Indian food which consists of wheat flour + vegetables + white rice + lentil soup. It is not the unhealthiest thing, but they do provide a lot of additional carbs (besides the veggies). I asked him to record all the things he eats for one week so I can gradually start changing it, but I don't think he cares too much. My mom will listen though.

Do you think all vegetarians should supplement creatine or just those that do resistance training? From my brief research it seems like all Lacto-Ovo vegetarians are low in it. Should my parents supplement Vitamin B12?

I will research exercise physiologists and see if I can find one near me - thanks for the tip!

 

[Built]

How tall is your mom, and what does she weigh?

 

[Kenny537]

5'4" 157 lbs

 

[Built]

57% bodyfat means she's carrying 68 lbs lean mass.

There is NO WAY this is accurate.

I'm 5'7" and I carry about 120 lbs of lean NOW - and I've been training for almost ten years. I perhaps started with 100-105 lbs lean mass.

She might be carrying 90-100 lbs lean mass. If it's 90 lbs, then she's just over 40% bodyfat. I was about 40% when I started, when I was 38 I was 170 lbs. She's shorter, so 157 lbs at her height probably puts her at about 40%. I'd go with that and get her to diet down to about 130 lbs. See how she looks and feels from here. Probably she will want to get down to about there, maybe 125. That will put her in the 25% - 30% bodyfat range, which is pefectly healthy for a woman her (my) age.

 

[Kenny537]

Nevermind - she says that the guy said she misunderstood him. She was actually measured at 42% body fat, which is still high. So you were pretty accurate in your estimation.

I will try to work on her diet based on your methods and let you know what I come up with - thanks!

As for me, I understand what you are recommending now. Correct me if I am wrong, but you are saying it is more important to focus on resistance training than cardio because resistance training creates lean body mass. And since LBM has a compounding effect, the process will speed up fat burning significantly faster than doing steady state cardio. The latter only burns the calories you burn in the particular session, while resistance training gives you muscle gains which will burn calories 24/7.

Is that right? I thought that was all fine and dandy, but I am currently skimming through "BURN THE FAT FEED THE MUSCLE - Fat Burning Secrets of the World’s Best
Bodybuilders & Fitness Models
By Tom Venuto"

You have probably read or heard of it, but my point is that he is describing the different body types, and I have no doubt that I am an Endomorph. One of the nutritional/fitness strategies he listed for endomorphs is to do large amounts of cardio.

"Someone with a low endomorph component may stay lean with little or no cardio at all.
Endomorphs need a larger quantity of cardio to lose body fat. Most endomorphs will lose
fat with surprising ease by doing some type of cardio at least 4 – 5 times per week.
Extreme endomorphs usually need cardio every day (seven days per week). All
endomorphs will tend to gain the fat back if they stop doing cardio completely. Often,
they successfully lose weight, but then put it back on if they haven’t made the
commitment to continue exercising for life."

What do you think? Also, should I really be working out only 3x a week? Just want to make sure.

Thanks!

 

[Built]

Nevermind - she says that the guy said she misunderstood him. She was actually measured at 42% body fat, which is still high. So you were pretty accurate in your estimation.

That sounds better. From this point forward, with your mom, assume she has 90 lbs of lean mass, and that she'll hit 30% bodyfat at 130 lbs. If she diets down with a lot of protein (and not too fast), she shouldn't lose any lean mass. I'd aim for something like half a pound a week. Nothing more, she's too tiny and she's not lifting.

I will try to work on her diet based on your methods and let you know what I come up with - thanks!

As for me, I understand what you are recommending now. Correct me if I am wrong, but you are saying it is more important to focus on resistance training than cardio because resistance training creates lean body mass.

No. You aren't going to gain a significant amount of muscle while losing weight. In fact, once you've become fairly lean and strong, you likely won't be able to gain any muscle at all unless you eat enough to ensure weight gain. You'll get a little bit of muscle while you drop weight, as a novice, but not very much. Basically, consider your cut a success if you only drop bodyfat. Most of us can no longer do this.

The importance of lifting while cutting is the maintenance of lean mass. You don't want to use a lot of volume, since your ability to recover on a deficit will be small. You just want to give your muscles enough of a sign to say "hey, stick around, we need you to lift heavy shit for a few reps a few times a week". Grudgingly, your body will maintain the (metabolically expensive) muscle, and instead drop the low-fuel-consumption bodyfat it would prefer to maintain.

And since LBM has a compounding effect, the process will speed up fat burning significantly faster than doing steady state cardio. The latter only burns the calories you burn in the particular session, while resistance training gives you muscle gains which will burn calories 24/7.

Maybe. A little. The bigger deal by far is the maintenance of your existing lean mass. Cardio will do nothing to encourage this - in fact, it can and will do the opposite.

Is that right? I thought that was all fine and dandy, but I am currently skimming through "BURN THE FAT FEED THE MUSCLE - Fat Burning Secrets of the World???s Best
Bodybuilders & Fitness Models
By Tom Venuto"

You have probably read or heard of it,

I have. Not a fan - it's old school, and it'll work, but you'll probably lose a lot more size than you need if you try to diet down to lean doing that.

but my point is that he is describing the different body types, and I have no doubt that I am an Endomorph. One of the nutritional/fitness strategies he listed for endomorphs is to do large amounts of cardio.

I disagree.

"Someone with a low endomorph component may stay lean with little or no cardio at all.
Endomorphs need a larger quantity of cardio to lose body fat. Most endomorphs will lose
fat with surprising ease by doing some type of cardio at least 4 ??? 5 times per week.
Extreme endomorphs usually need cardio every day (seven days per week). All
endomorphs will tend to gain the fat back if they stop doing cardio completely. Often,
they successfully lose weight, but then put it back on if they haven???t made the
commitment to continue exercising for life."

What do you think? Also, should I really be working out only 3x a week? Just want to make sure.

Thanks!

Lift three times a week. For now, no more. Once you hit (or get damned close to) maintenance, you might want to revisit this to four.

I disagree with the cardio statement. I was fat for twenty years. Cardio never leaned me out. That part is diet (run a deficit) with low-volume heavy lifting workouts. I do a little cardio, but not much, and not regularly. I basically consider exercise burns exactly NOTHING - to lose, I drop my calories.

 

[Kenny537]

Ok fair enough - I won't add any cardio - thanks!.

Here is my what I did for my workout yesterday:

For the dynamic warm up - I was already sweating from it - I couldn't find a link where it showed me how to do the "Walking half-lotus overhand shin-tugs" for my glutes.

I believed I used all free weights

Goblet - 50 lbs
Romanian - 30 lbs
Smith Machine - 3 sets of 5 reps of only negatives - this helped TREMENDOUSLY - I was shaking so much on the way down, which is a good thing, and I really felt like I gained a lot of muscle in the arms in doing this! I could only manage to do them when my wrists are facing me though.

Arnold - 25 lbs - I felt this in my lower back - is that a good thing or bad thing?
Dumbbell Rows - 30 lbs
Low Incline Dumbbell Press - 30 lbs
Bosu Ball - I held a 25 lb weight and did 3 sets of 7

[I was sipping a little of the recovery drink throughout these exercises - would you recommend this?] After my workout, I drank the rest of the recovery drink + creatine

post workout cardio: - shot hoops

The only thing that concerns me is if I am in enough of a caloric deficit.

How will I know that I have reached maintenance? Once I lose my belly fat?

I know I'm being impatient - because I've really only done the workout twice. And I think yesterday was really the first time I did it right. I am seeing some muscle gains .. even though you said what I am doing right now is mostly just to preserve my existing muscle while cutting down the fat - are these just preliminary newbie gains then I will stop gaining muscle? Or am I eating too much? For some reason my left arm looks more toned than my right arm, which is weird because my right arm has always been stronger. I think my belly fat is slightly less, although I may just be imagining it. I was a little sore today though - and I am trying my best to challenge myself and stick to 5-8 reps.

I should drink plenty of water throughout the day now that I am on creatine, right? Did you say that you would recommend creatine for my mom too since she is vegetarian, or just people that exercise?

Thanks!

 

[Built]

Maintenance is the calories you require to neither gain nor lose. You can be at maintenance while obese, it just means your weight isn't changing. You find it by tracking. For non-obese folks, it's likely to be somewhere between 13 and 15 times your bodyweight.

To lose, you must eat less than your maintenance. To gain, you must eat more than your maintenance.

My 80 year old mom takes creatine.

You won't notice muscle gain this fast. BULKING you might gain one or two pounds of muscle in a month.

 

[Kenny537]

I was just using the bar on the smith machine to do negative pull ups - how else would I do them?

Okay, well if you are saying I haven't gained any muscle, well then I guess I haven't lost much fat either, because I am at 169. Meaning I have lost a pound. I guess that means I am on the right track then.

 

[Built]

Smith is fine for negative chins.

Two workouts is simply too soon to know. Just keep at this, monitor the intake and the weight, see how you feel and make adjustments as necessary.

Sound good?