Fat loss - how to lose the bulge and gain the ripples

[Saint Nick]

You need to stop eating refined carbs (refined flours, sugars, etc). Other carbs are good (see his diet list).

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I'm currently interning in New York working 12 hours a day and living in a dorm room with a kitchenette, it's not that easy for me to get healthy sources of protein.

They sell precooked bags of cubed chicken at almost every grocery store. This is how I've found time to stop eating TV dinners working third shift.

Also half a bag of the 90second microwave uncle benz wild rice package rounds out the meal for me. Toss in a little fruit and some yogurt and I'm set. Probably not the most nutritious meal I can cobble together in no time, but it's better than a Lean Cuisine frozen pizza 5 days a week.

 

[Todd33]

Wait, what point are you trying to make? Carbs are good? Carbs are bad? Fats are bad? I don't understand what you're saying - you didn't really state an argument, just that brikis got lucky.

Starch and sugars are bad, both wreak havoc with hormones (Insulin) and induce fat storage. So trying to minimize Glycemic load seems to be the current state of the art in nutrition science. Rigorous exercise isn't required for weight loss if you eat the right foods and no calorie restrictions needed.

He says a few thing that fly in the face or the current science.

Hell no. It was physics. Nah, seriously - my weight loss is 100% attributable to the law of conservation of energy.

Calories In < Calories Out. This is the only formula that really matters in weight management.

There are plenty of studies that flat out show this is not true. Sure anyone can starve themselves and over exercise and get thin, is this sustainable or realistic? Not for most. Restricting your calories has the side benefit of restricting bad calories. Hence I said he got lucky, he lost weight, but not for the reasons he thought.

 

[RbSX]

You need to stop eating refined carbs (refined flours, sugars, etc). Other carbs are good (see his diet list).

What about fruits? Which are almost entirely 100% carbs.

I mean, if I eat a banana and an apple that's almost 1/3rd of my carb intake for the day.. doesn't leave a ton of wiggle room.

 

[RbSX]

They sell precooked bags of cubed chicken at almost every grocery store. This is how I've found time to stop eating TV dinners working third shift.

Also half a bag of the 90second microwave uncle benz wild rice package rounds out the meal for me. Toss in a little fruit and some yogurt and I'm set. Probably not the most nutritious meal I can cobble together in no time, but it's better than a Lean Cuisine frozen pizza 5 days a week.

Sure, and that's usually what I find myself doing a lot of.

The problem is that rice is a TON of carbs, and when I'm eating a banana (25g), bagel(45g), cereal, and an apple(25g), that basically leaves room for nothing else to rice which is about 45g per serving. Trying to not go over 220 carbs per day.

Ninja edit: What's so bad about non processed deli meats?

 

[RbSX]

Another unrelated question. My BMR is around 1950, my caloric maitenance levels are around 2750-2900 depending on how it's calculated. How much of a deficit would you recommend? I've read anything more than a thousand is just nuts.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Ninja edit: What's so bad about non processed deli meats?

I was wondering this myself. The deli meat I get at Trader Joe's looks fine from the ingredients list. The only really bad issue is the sodium. It's through the roof for a 2oz serving. Homemade sandwiches are one of the easiest ways for me to not eat shit though. =/

 

[RbSX]

I was wondering this myself. The deli meat I get at Trader Joe's looks fine from the ingredients list. The only really bad issue is the sodium. It's through the roof for a 2oz serving. Homemade sandwiches are one of the easiest ways for me to not eat shit though. =/

Yeah I mean, I'll usually go get sliced chicken breast straight from the deli (fresh cut, not pre packed crap), for all intents and purposes, as I understand it, it's exactly like cooking a chicken breast and putting it into a sandwich.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Let me answer everyone with bullet points:

Pray for death: White rice is not a good complex carb - I think that was misconstrued from another thread. It may be low on the glycemic index, but it doesn't come with many vitamins, minerals, or fiber.

I can't comment on your entire diet. If you want that, go ahead and make another thread and have other individuals comment on it. If you're trying to lose weight, I've always said eat good lean sources of protein, veggies, fruit, complex carbs, seeds, nuts, and fruit.

Also you don't need to stop taking in carbs to lose weight. Read the thread What Saint Nick said is mostly true.

Todd33: Starch isn't bad, especially if you're aerobically active. Saying sugar in general is a bad idea - lactose, maltose, etc don't have nearly the effects of fructose and sucrose. Btw, insulin is meant to vary - that's how we're built. If you eat starch in a meal with a good source of protein, fat, and fiber, the effect on insulin will typically be much less. Insulin only promotes fat storage overall if you're in a caloric excess.

Also, you don't need exercise to lose weight, but it has shown to be the most effective way to lose weight. In addition to that, you do have to be in a caloric deficit period.

What brikis says is 100&#37; true. What the research says is 100% true as well. What you're not getting is that there are many contributors to total caloric expenditure. Total caloric expenditure = resting metabolic rate + thermic effect of activity + thermic effect of feeding + thermogenesis. If you modify what you eat, you modify the thermic effect of feeding and possibly thermogenesis thereby modifying your overall caloric expenditure. You're silly for thinking that he lost weight with luck. He lost it with a net caloric deficit, which has shown in research to be effective in almost all non-pathological cases (if TEF and thermogenesis are accounted for).

Rb: Fruits are fine in moderation. They're high in fructose, but they're also high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The fiber reduces the rate of digestion and the compounds that are within the fruit can slow digestion as well. Eat some fruit, but don't over-eat it. I eat 3-4 pieces of fruit a day personally.

PS: Deli meats are never non-processed. Typically they contain quite a bit of phosphates. Also, you've already found the problem with the insane levels of sodiums.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Thanks for the clarification SC.

 

[RbSX]

Another question, what's a quasi decent alternative for a squat? The gym at my school is incredibly deficient. It doesn't have a seated leg curl machine, nor does it even have mats to do crunches. It's genuinely awful.

So I'm switching from an isolation to a compound program, simply because they have all of the equipment.

The problem is, with my back, doing squats is not the smartest idea, I'm still rehabbing it.

Any suggestions?

 

[RbSX]

One more question:

I'm looking at the Stronglifts 5x5. On the website it says that these are the two different workouts:

Workout A Workout B
Squat 5x5 Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5 Overhead Press 5x5
Barbell Rows 5x5 Deadlift 1x5

However, the PDF has 5 excercises

Workout A Workout B
Squat 5x5 Squat 5x5
Bench Press 5x5 Overhead Press 5x5
Inverted Rows 3xF Deadlift 1x5
Push-ups 3xF Pull-ups/Chin-ups 3xF
Reverse Crunch 3x12 Prone Bridges 3x30sec

It strikes me as that there is a lot of misinformation. SC would you mind pointing me in the right direction? Mehdi seems to be really proficient at peddling fluff and bullshit into his PDFs, not to mention there are about 10 different versions running around, so it's hard to figure out which ones are legit, and which ones aren't.

Could you please point me in the right direction, in so far as what is legit and what isn't?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Rb: I think you need to just think things through a bit more on your own. You can honestly get by with only squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press, weighted chin-ups and rows. If you want to add the accessory work, that's your preference.

Does your gym have a barbell? You can front squat if you can clean the weight. You can also get creative - goblet squats, suitcase deadlifts, body weight squats, etc. You need to find a new gym if you want to do huge back squats in a power rack. The Smith machine will do you a lot more harm than good if you use that.

 

[Saint Nick]

I've been doing Rippetoes routine for months and I've gained 20 pounds since December, 170 from 150. It doesn't need to be complicated...just find something and stick with it!

 

[PrayForDeath]

I have a question regarding resistance training.

I don't go to the gym, and find weightlifting very boring. I do 30x2 pushups and 50x2 situps every day in addition to my daily 1 hour bike ride (hilly neighborhood.) Is that enough resistance training? Or am I gonna lose muscle weight if I continue doing that while consuming roughly 2000 calories (just above my BMR) every day?

I also usually have 1 scoop of whey protein powder just after the bike ride along with some simple carbs. Is that bad if you don't lift weights? (my diet contains little protein without that scoop)

 

[bbs lm-r]

Regarding your calorie intake based on your BMR, the reasoning why you should do this does make sense so thanks for explaining, but just to make it completely clear for myself, you should intake a bit MORE calories/day than your BMR? And obv. calories from healthy foods.

So if mine is 2560, what should I aim for, like 2600-2700 cal./day?

Also for foods;

for tuna, canned tuna = ok?
for eggs, raw eggs? scrambled? doesn't matter?

for fruit, what do you mean, 'if acceptable on diet' ?

 

[shortylickens]

Starting the 11 day diet. Will let you guys know what happens.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Regarding your calorie intake based on your BMR, the reasoning why you should do this does make sense so thanks for explaining, but just to make it completely clear for myself, you should intake a bit MORE calories/day than your BMR? And obv. calories from healthy foods.

So if mine is 2560, what should I aim for, like 2600-2700 cal./day?

2560 BMR sounds too high. You sure you didn't make a mistake while calculating it?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

2560 BMR sounds too high. You sure you didn't make a mistake while calculating it?

If he's 250lbs+, then that's right. I've seen people with BMRs upward of 3k+ calories. When you get to BMRs that high, then you can experiment with dipping under it, but if weight loss stalls, it's best to get back above it.

 

[Saint Nick]

My BMR is 1950. I have no idea how many calories I burn lifting, but I'm guessing maybe 300 in a 45 minute period (still doing my own variation of Rippetoe's)? So, 1950 + 300 = 2250 calories. I try to eat about 2500 to 2,700 calories per day, but I haven't been gaining weight for about a month. I hit 170 and have somewhat plateaued.

What can I do, or what could I be doing wrong? Maybe not enough protein?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

My BMR is 1950. I have no idea how many calories I burn lifting, but I'm guessing maybe 300 in a 45 minute period (still doing my own variation of Rippetoe's)? So, 1950 + 300 = 2250 calories. I try to eat about 2500 to 2,700 calories per day, but I haven't been gaining weight for about a month. I hit 170 and have somewhat plateaued.

What can I do, or what could I be doing wrong? Maybe not enough protein?

If you're a smaller individual (and have been your whole life), genetics play a huge role is what those calories do. Everyone creates heat via their metabolism. However, some people can actually waste calories so as not to gain wait through this process. If you're not gaining weight, add 200-300cal to your daily diet and wait a week or two. If you're still stagnant, add another 200-300cal. With bulking, you can just keep adding as much as you need until you see results.

To gain weight at 140lbs, I had to eat 3000-3300cal per day. On then did I start to bulk up. I got to 160lbs in about 10 weeks after that though. Milk and nuts are your friend.

 

[Saint Nick]

As far as macro nutrients go when gaining, could we follow your examples you stated in your post? You stated you and your brother have used 40&#37; fat/40% protein/20% carbohydrates and 30% fat/30% protein/40% carbohydrates respectively, but that was for cutting.

I've been mostly sticking to the latter (30/30/40).

 

[SociallyChallenged]

As far as macro nutrients go when gaining, could we follow your examples you stated in your post? You stated you and your brother have used 40% fat/40% protein/20% carbohydrates and 30% fat/30% protein/40% carbohydrates respectively, but that was for cutting.

I've been mostly sticking to the latter (30/30/40).

Worrying about the macros too much is silly. Just get enough protein and don't eat too many carbs. That's pretty much it. But yeah, you can use either of those, if you really like having numbers to abide by.

 

[bfdd]

meh i've lost 45 lbs since Jan 1st, I've cut carbs out mostly, i eat raw carbs fruits/veggies, very little bread i don't drink carbs(maybe a soda once a month now?) meat and veggies mostly, some rice. since changing my diet i've also been able to lower the amount of calories i intake so im probably around 1600 calories a day?

250 to 205 was like just over 7 months for me. now i'm trying to tone it up, i'm really just to thick(barrel chested) to lose that much more weight.

 

[shortylickens]

Lost 8 pounds. But I wasnt able to do the whole 11 days in order with no cheats. Getting set up with a strict meal plan is difficult, especially while going to school. Have to decide if I wanna bring lunch with me or race home to eat on time.

Started again with a better food list, on day 4 now.