As mentioned before, I'm having a tremendously hard time getting rid of the last 8 or 9lbs, so I've begun looking for alternatives. High intensity interval is just too staggering. You're supposed to do it on an empty stomach, and I can't do that then liftweights, I lose too much energy. As for doing it after a workout, once I reached the 8 minute plateau, I just couldn't anymore. That kind of running after an hour of working out is just too much. If I wasn't currently focused on lifting weights, I could, but I need another solution right now. So I heard about Sauna Belts (since I have a big belly regardless of the fact that I do 400-500 situps a week). I definitely need to trim down my belly. Has anyone tried them and do they work? How abotu sauna suits - are they practical?
From all I know, you can't spot reduce fat in one area like that. If I'm not mistaken all you would lose from something like that would be water weight. The situps are great...but they don't burn the fat off of your belly necessarily. It WILL give you a rock hard stomach that you will hopefully see once you get that layer of fat off around it.
Try jump roping. Not only is it excelent cardio, but it increases rhythm and coordination. Plus it's just good old fashioned fun!
1. Drink tons of water (atleast half your body weight in fluid ounces.. im 165 lbs so i try to drink about 80-90 fluid ounces a day). 2. Lower your carb intake 3. Lots of cardio and even more FAT BURN.. If you look on any cardio machine in the gym you will see an age/heart rate ratio scale. Cardio is where you get your heart rate up for atleast 20 minutes. Fat Burning is where you keep your heart rate pretty low and just stay at the machine for an hour or so (bring a good book and go even longer). I'm no expert, but I've done this and have gone from 175 to a pretty firm 165. I'm not going to lose any more weight because I do a ton of lifting.
My carb intake is pretty low. Basically, I try to avoid them and only eat them when forced. I stoped drinking lots of water because I hear it's betetr NOT to drink water. Could you explain to me why drinking water would help me lose fat? I also read that low intensity cardio for long periods (an hour or more) tends to take from your mass and muscle as well as fat. Is it better to run for 25 minutes or jog lightly for 1 hour? Keep in mind I've lost 30+ lbs in the past 8 months or so. It's gettign increasingly difficult to lose each pound, and I want to find an effective way to do this, and lose 10lbs by the end of May (2 months and a bit). I want to lose pure fat. Jump roping is something I would like to do. Any objections to that? How long do you jump rope to equate to 1 hour of cycling?
Sane, I dont know who told ya NOT to drink water, but they don't know jack! Water: 1. Cleans out your system. 2. Keeps you from getting sore. 3. Your muscles and everything are made from water. 4. It stimulates your kidneys which will keep you from retaining water and, in turn, burns more calories(which will burn more fat). 5. Keeps your stomach full and keeps you from snacking. I aim for about a gallon of water a day. This past summer, I wasnt working out but I drank a gallon a day and lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks. My metabolism is pretty high though. Good luck losing the extra weight and good job for losing what you have.
I read the other day that 10 minutes of jump roping is equal to 30 minutes of jogging for exercise. But then again, it was on a website that was selling jump ropes.
Looks like I'm going to be drinking water and jumping rope like crazy. Not in that order though . FranchiseBlade, Thanks for the tips!
Sane, I'm sorry about never calling you in Dubai while I was there. I got real busy the last few days and just didn't have time to do anything. Anyways, I seem to remember you saying you drink lots of fresh juice. While most juices are good for you and high in vitamins, they can also a negative effect. All juices are high in sugar and sugar is exactly what you don't want to be consuming. If you are tying to get cuts, you should try to eliminate as much sugar as possible. Somebody please feel free to correct me on this if I am wrong.
Franchise2001, My bad, lol. I don't know why I didn't realize the name difference, but again thatnks a whole bunch for the tips, I've already had 1.5 litres of water yesterday and today, lol. Rockets03, No problem, it wasn't a good time for me either, some family trouble that will inshallah be over soon. But thanks for the sugars tip. What about fresh fruit? Do they consume a lot of sugar? I have a banana every day, so is that bad? It's supposed to help me for working out. What I'm doing right now is getting cardio about 3 times of week, drinking no liquid but water (lots of it), and having two meals a day no snacks in between. I'm hoping I'll drop these last 8 or 9lbs in a month or two. droxford, Fasting gives you a belly. Fasting is actually the worst thing for dieting. You eat just as much, but you just eat it all around the same time, which makes your belly even bigger.
Sane, I don't think a banana has that much sugar. It is definitely okay to eat one a day. Fruits like pineapple, mangoes, oranges, grapes, etc have lots of sugar and should be avoided. I mean its of still okay to eat them, but dont eat them everyday or drink juices everyday either. I think apple or apple juice is pretty low on sugar, but you might want to ask someone else about that. And eating twice a day is definitely not a good thing. I think you should consume anywhere from 4-6 small meals a day. I know it might sound like the exact opposite of what you are trying to accomplish (lose fat), but eating multiple small meals helps to speed up your metabolism. Keep your meals super high in protein, low on sugar and carbs, medium-low on fat and consume about 2000 calories. Here is a sample meal plan: Breakfast - 2 hard boiled eggs (remove yolk from one), orange jucie, a slice of wheat bread and some fat free cheese. Lunch - Grilled chicked and vegetables. Or some deli meats in wheat bread with low fat cheese. Protien shake - one that is low on sugar and has about 40 grams of protien when mixed in two glasses of milk. Slice up a banana to and mix it in the shake if you want it to taste good. Always get chocolate flavored shake, the others like strawberry and vanilla always suck. Another protien shake. Dinner - Eat something that is high in protein and low in sugar. Take one of the protein shakes an hour before working out and one right after working out. Drinking a protein shake or intaking some sort of protein right after working out is just about the most important thing you can do. Rember, stuff like yogurt, cereal bars, etc. are also high in sugar and should be kept at a minimum. You should be consuming 1.5 times your body weight in protein. Keep the sugar under 30-40 grams. Do weights 3-5 times a week. Jog early in the morning ( 3 times a week) before eating anything. Oh....do some ab excersices before jogging. And never ever do weights on an empty stomach and intaking protein after working out is really really important. I am not of course a expert on this by any means, so someone please feel free to correct me if i am wrong.
It's no prob Sane, You might put on a few lbs after drinking a ton of water the first few days. However, you should feel an increase in energy level (not to mention the energy to get up and go to the bathroom). Your goal is to burn off that fat so don't watch your weight that closely.. keep up with the water and make cardio/fat burn your friend. Bananas are good for you. They are high in potassium which helps distribute oxygen to the muscles. When I was a gymnast, I used to get charlie horses all the time. I have to eat bananas or ill get one every month. -Joel
Rockets03, That's some great detailed stuff. But wouldn't getting that much protein make me BIG, as in, give me mass? I'm trying to stay as lean as possible, because I'm naturally a bit big, have a wide chet, wide shoulders, etc... As for the food, I have some questions.. You want me to have 1 sandwich for lunch? I don't think I can pull that off. It's just not enough, it seriously seriously feels like I haven't had a thing. The chicken is good. I can have 2 chicken breasts, a little bit of wheat bread with tomatoes and get pretty filled up. But then again, you're sayign I shouldn't get filled up at once, but should have 5 meals a day? Time is a problem there, I don't really have time to eat 5 GOOD meals like you're describing, but I'll try to increase the number of meals anyway.. I only have breakfast like once a month, I'll probably try to make it a habit now though. We're up to 3 meals. Thanks a ton. Franchise2001, I feel great today after chugging down the water for 3 days. I had some pain in my knee joints, and it seems the water helped ease those pains. Also, I feel great in the morning and am able to wake up much easier. I used to drink tons of water and felt exactly this way, but never realized it was the water. Then when I reduced my water intake, I became a bit lazy and grumpy in the mornings. It seems the water is helping me out overall, definitely a great idea I'll be sticking to. Thanks again. The problem with me now is that going on so many diets has absolutely destroyed my sense for good food. When I see any sort of carbohydrates, I think negative. Anything that has been in oil, negative. Sugars, negative. No matter what I eat I feel guilty about it, not knowing which set of instrctions I should stick to, and which diet is actually in effect, lol. What surprises me is that, up until this month, I've been SUPER active for a year but my metabolism hasn't improved too much. I gain weight very easily, but ofcourse that may be my phobia for not checking the scale 4 times a day. But seriously, I'm always active: I walk a lot during the day, play sports twice a week, lift weights 3 timesa week, cardio (jogging/cycling) once a week upto 3 times a week. I don't eat horrible food, althoguh there's the occasional lapse of judgement. I guess I have a naturally slow metabolism.
