Get fit/less fat regime

[stevie_d]

Right, had a bit of a shock when I weighed myself today for the first time in a while...so I've decided to get fit. Obviously I don't want to do a crash diet as that's not healthy, so am looking more towards a lifestyle change. Therefore any regime must be pretty flexible and not 'too' demanding.

If someone who is more keyed up than moi could have a look over this and see if it's sensible then I'll be very appreciative

Gym;

High Intensity Interval Training, 3 times a week;

- One day push, one pull and one legs.

- Some cardio, probs 20-30 mins rowers or cycle

Misc exercise;

- More flexible than the gym, but hopefully around an hour running a week, split into 2 or 3 sessions

Diet;

- Breakfast; weetabix n skimmed milk

- Lunch; Salad (mixed leaves, carrot, egg etc)

- Tea; Grilled meat/fish with veg

- Snacks; fruit during the day (we have fruit basket at work )

- Lots of water during the day and minimal coffee/tea

Alcohol;

- Can't cut this out completely, but will not drink at home and will cut down drinking on nights out. Currently thinking of drinking on alternate nights out only.

I've also got some supplements, such as Whey Protein and Milk Protein, to have pre/post workout, as apparently that helps

Do people think this is sensible? Ideally I want to shed weight, but need to gain fitness as well...

[D1MAC]

Sounds pretty sensible to me.

I suppose the only Q would be how much exercise you do at the moment and whether you can dive in like that (and not manage to lay yourself up with this & that and end up not doing anything).

Only thing I would do is swap the misc running for swimming - only time I tried it (without eating healthily quitting beer or other exercise) I lost 2 1/2 stone in 3 months.

Having said all that - what do I know? I'm hardly the best to give advice as I'm a long way off the weight I should be

[manderson]

1 thing i would mention is, use a measuring tape to measure your progress. Muscle wieghs more than fat so you might find your weight goes up abit before it goes down.

That does seem like a serious lifestyle change, Could mebe try taking up a sport of some sort which you can do with friends cycling,badminton etc its alot more fun than the gym. And the more fun it is the more likely you will stick to it

Good luck

[stevie_d]

Cheers guys, it is a pretty big change I admit, so not sure how my body/mind will take to it...

D1MAC> exercise at the moment consists of very little, it's basically walking up the escalators on the tube, rather than just standing...I like the idea of swimming too

manderson> I like the idea of a tape measure actually! As for sport, yeah, I'm moving in with mates who play football and I love that, so could join them. I agree, it's much easier and more fun to play football than sit in a gym forcing yourself to do work...

Cheers guys

[Arch]

[ QUOTE ]

Muscle wieghs more than fat so you might find your weight goes up abit before it goes down.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry but

On my left I have one kilo of muscle, on my right I have one kilo of fat. Which weighs the most?

I think it is safer to say that muscle is more dense than fat.

[manderson]

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Muscle wieghs more than fat so you might find your weight goes up abit before it goes down.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry but

On my left I have one kilo of muscle, on my right I have one kilo of fat. Which weighs the most?

I think it is safer to say that muscle is more dense than fat.

[/ QUOTE ]

No need for nit-picking. Everyone knows what i meant

[sufu]

If you really want to burn fat faster then swimming is one of the best options I've found, and working the upper body in general will burn fat faster than working the lower body. I had the same kind of "moment of clarity" a couple of weeks ago, so I've given myself a target of burning the fat, and building the muscle density and tone... all by Sep 14th, the best bit by far for me is the rapid change in attitude and outlook, I feel much better about myself!

[Soulboy]

You should try and build up muscle as well.

IIRC, a pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories a day compared to fat, just going about your ordinary life.

So burn some fat - but build some muscle as well, for long term results.

[benjie]

At the risk of sounding overly effeminate(!), I joined Slimming World at the end of January and I've lost 3 3/4 stone. At the same time I also joined a gym, so it's a bit of both.

It's a really easy diet to follow and I still eat most of the stuff I like (except pizza!) and I feel great from it.

I go to the gym about 3-4 times a week (4-6 at the moment as I'm a teacher and it's the school holidays!) and I do 20min cross trainer, 3/4 different weight training machines, then 2min run/2min walk/2min run/2min walk etc. for 20min, then I do a couple more weight machines. (I often miss out the 2nd lot of weights because I'm knackared!) A few nights a week I do toning exercises at home using an exercise ball and stuff.

I'd like to lose another 1 1/2 stone and I'm now finding it really hard to just shift it - like Roy Castle once said, "Dedication's what you need!"

[NewNiceMrMe]

It's a piece of cake - or not as the case is.

5 stone and counting.

Mind over matter. Or rather, mind over getting fatter.

[stevie_d]

Good advice guys

Did my first gym sessiona and it nearly killed me, but it felt good

[Ian_C]

Chris, you've lost 5 stone? Bloody hell! Come along to Buxton again, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

Stevie, well done on getting down the gym. A little and often is the way forward. Pain is good, but don't cripple yourself by going at it too hard to start with.

Ian

[NewNiceMrMe]

[ QUOTE ]

Chris, you've lost 5 stone? Bloody hell! Come along to Buxton again, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nowt like motivation to make a man stay put.

[Dan32]

Diet is about 70% of looking good, exercise is about burning the stubborn stuff and working the heart and lungs. 5 meals a day based on what works for you and what doesn't. Smaller portions spread over whole day means energy levels stay constant and you won't feel obliged to eat whats in front of you.

Roughly need to eat every 2-3 hours but meal could consist of pint of skimmed milk (or protein shake) with peanut butter bagel and piece of fruit as an example. You will have to spend some time fine tuning the diet yourself as each persons calorie intake and dietary requirements is different.

Good way of increasing muscle mass which in turn will help to burn fat, is to increase protein intake and lower carbs (most trainers/magazines will say rule of thumb is minimum of 1 gram of protein for every kg of body weight per day - I weigh 100kg or 16 stone so thats 100grams of protein per day which is 5 protein shakes or packet of chicken breasts).

Unlike the dumb advice the atkins diet gives though, carbs are not the enemy. You need (complex - they take longer to break down giving you longer lasting energy) carbs to maintain energy and to actually burn the protein for growth. Stay away from sugary products, including anything that says its fat free (as they are full of sugar) and try brown rice (yuk!) and sweet potatoes. Fruit can make up carb intake but beware of eating too much fruit as it contains fructose (sugar).

Try and stay clear of fruit juices and anything sweet as the sugar will make glycogen levels spike which in turn triggers the bodies response to store this energy ( simple carbs) as fat deposits. Also, try and reduce the amount of salt and sodium as this promotes water retention making you appear bloated, even in men! There is more than enough salt/sodium in food for your body without adding more and by cutting this out and raising water intake, you should see good results reasonably quickly.

Supplements can work but have to be with correct diet/exercise regime to work. Creatine is good basic one and comes in both tablet and drink formats, but to be honest, unless you plan on being an athlete/pro bodybuilder, you're probably better off to begin with saving your money and just getting diet in order.

And lastly, try and enjoy it. Sounds silly but if you're not enjoying it, you'll quickly give up. Allow yourself a treat once in a while, if you feel that you have the will power to stop at just the one! Some people hate the gym so try and find a sport you enjoy/are not embarassed to do. And variety is the spice of life. This also applies to your body. If all you do is cycle, eventually the body will strengthen itself to those inputs and you will have to cycle further and harder to burn any fat. Mix it up as much as possible to 'shock' the body and make sure you actually get into the fat burning zone.

I forget the little equation to work this out but there is a specific point when your heart rate is high enough that the body is burning fat reserves and its this point that you need to sustain for as long as possible to burn fat effectively.

[Mook]

Agree with everything Dan says above and would add a couple more.

Before you try building yourself up, get yourself fit, so lots of cardio. Try varying it a bit as well, rather than just using a treadmill if you're going to the gym - use the cross-trainer and cycling machine as well as the treadmill.

Also, one very good way of burning off stubborn fat is to build up your cardio over four to six weeks. You need to head for 30 minutes per session minimum and it goes something like this:

Week 1: 1 min at half your pace, 1 min at full pace then repeat for the full 30 mins.

Week 2: 1 min at half pace, 2 mins at full pace then repeat for the full 30 mins.

Week 3: 1 min at half pace, 3 mins at full pace then repeat for the full 30 mins.

Week 4: 1 min at half pace, 5 mins at full pace then repeat for the full 30 mins.

Week 5: 1 min at half pace, 8 mins at full pace then repeat for the full 30 mins.

Week 6: 1 min at half pace, 10 mins at full pace, then repeat for the full 30 mins

You use the slower exercise as you're "shocking" your body into burning any excess fat.

The other one to watch for is not eating carbs (pasta, potatoes etc.) after 8pm. Your body winds down at the end of the day and when you stuff yourself with carbs at night, your body stores them as fat overnight.

Oh, and I've found the best time to get the most out of this kind of exercise is first thing in the morning, if you can. I managed to do this for a block of 8 weeks then had to revert to being the school taxi on the days I was going to the gym, so now go in the evening.

You should be aiming to do 3 to 4 sessions a week, resting in between, so try Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.

Best of luck - let us know how you get on

[stevie_d]

Guys, again, fantastic advice from all of you! Thanks

I'm now moving into a flat with mates, so will be easier to monitor what I eat and they don't drink at home, so alcohol will be cut down!

Also, just joined a 5-a-side team

[manderson]

Good going. Another 1 to keep you going is set your self a challange. When i set out to get fit at the start of the year and signed up for 4 charity events. Im doing the last 1 tomorrow which is a 50mile cycle. Not only did it keep me dedicated it also raised nearly £1000 for various charitys.

[encee]

Gents, if I can add a quick word of warning to this one: Be careful if you are thinking of weight training, as 20 years ago, (when I was in my 20`s ) I used to do a lot of heavy lifting, and for my sins, I`m now paying the price, as I`ve not half started to get aching joints, during the winter months, in the last couple of years.

Don`t get me wrong; I`m not knocking any of the lads on here that weight-train or body-build etc; it`s just that I was (probably) poorly advised back then, and I`m paying for it now......

Oh well, good luck Stevie, and after learning what I`ve learnt, I would recommend using pretty much your own body weight to get fit, ie; as others have suggested with swimming, footie, cycling etc...

[bpsmith]

I am looking into exactly the same thing and so first post in this section. Cheers lads!

I am thinking of much the same routine but also want to go for a challenge, so looking at getting the Nike+ kit for the iPod and investing in some new trainers to match. Should be good to get an accurate record of how well you are doing and you can also choose to put your records online and race against other people by setting challenges like doing a set distance, or number of times over a certain distance, speed, etc. You also get to do this to music and have a power track that you love, that you can instigate when you start to lose motivation.

All this done on a treadmill mind you, as the roads dont half mess up your knees!

[Veracocha]

Also, one thing with cardio training is make sure you push as hard as you can go (assuming your body is in reasonable order). When you get muscle burn and feel like your lungs are going to burst you are really pushing your body and that is how you increase stamina and metabolism. Sometimes you see people tricking themselves in the gym by not working that hard but putting the time in. A hard 20 min session that makes you sweat is far better than a gash hour session.

[bells0]

I've just started running. Have a mate doin it too, which is good for motivation.

Got the goal of an organised 7 mile run in May to keep me focused. Is bloody painful living on a hill though!

[bpsmith]

I am totally out of shape as far as fitness is concerned. Can go for ages on the Cross Trainer or the Bike but suck on the Treadmill and really want to improve so looking for as much motivation as possible. I will be going it alone at the Gym so that was the thought on the Nike+.

I struggle running for 10 mins as cant breath very well through my nose and my throat dries if I use my mouth for longer than 10 mins, even with water. Perhaps I need that looked at first?