Posts by bdasko

Cardio doesn't help tone abs.  What exactly do you mean by "tone" anyway?  If you are looking for more definition, allover fat loss is what you need.  Cardio can help with that although lifting heavy weights is better. 

Cardio will help you burn more calories when you do it which can make it easier to have a calorie deficit which is what helps with weight loss.  It doesn't have a lasting effect though, and you can lose lean body mass which is probably not what you want.

Weight lifting (not talking 2lb-ers here) will help strengthen your muscles and increase your base metabolism since an equal weight of muscle burns a lot more calories just by existing than an equal amount of fat. 

Personally I have found GREAT success (over 50lbs lost so far) with eating a clean diet with a small deficit and my only exercise is weight lifting. 

I'm stunned at the idea that rape could ever be something about "alpha male" or "survival of the fittest."  Even in animal "cultures", they don't rape the female animals to prove their dominance... they fight over the females.  Big difference.

lorik I truly hope you are just playing devil's advocate because as I read through this thread it started to seem more and more like justification.

Don't put it into stocks.  Yes they will give you the biggest return but also the biggest risk of loss.  For long-term investments stick to high interest savings or CDs.  This is coming from someone who works in finance and daytrades on the side, fwiw... you don't need the risk of stocks.  If one of my members had your same situation, I would have the place the funds into a CD.

All of it except the punishment part. 

Physically it makes me look better.  It makes me less stressed and I get a high after lifting.  More energy in the day.  Makes me healthier.  I love having visible muscle.  It makes me stronger which makes me more confident and also practically speaking is a lot better.

I guess it just makes life easier for me.

Benny I'm being honest here... you keep posting repeatedly about your calorie intake.  I don't think I've ever seen a young man your age THIS worried about his calorie intake.  That's why I say you need to relax.  You might think you are relaxed but it sure doesn't come across that way when you are worried about what to do with a 200 calorie difference.  It seems like every time I log on to this site there's a different thread by you asking the same questions about your calories.

Of course to answer the original question I'll stay that I personally just strive for a range of calories and as long as my average at the end of the week is not more than 500 calories or so less than my average daily burn (as calculated by my GoWear Fit monitor) then I figure it's OK.  Our bodies don't really go by the 24 hour clock that we do.

And I will also say that an intake of 2600-3000 calories is definitely an improvement from the 2000 or less you were initially trying for. 

But again, I'm going to tell you what you have been told zillions of times.  Limiting your calories and worrying about the calorie intake is not really that healthy of a thing at your age.  I understand you don't want to be fat, and I would encourage you to lift weights to prevent that, but you need to realize that you might end up ruining your metabolic future if you mess with it too much.  You could end up short and with a metabolism that has become accustomed to a limited calorie intake, which is not much fun because if you ever decide to splurge and have a nice 4 course meal at a restaurant or anything, you are too worried about gaining weight than you are enjoying yourself.

I know I've written a lot but seriously, I see SO MANY people posting on here with their limited calorie intakes because they have RUINED their metabolisms.  People eat 1200 calories a day... that's insane!  I'm overweight, yes, and have been losing on 2000-2500 calories a day at age 29.  I can eat this much and at this point I don't even count calories anymore... and it's only because I didn't kill my metabolism earlier on in my life.  Life is too short to sit there and count calories and weigh and measure portions for the rest of your life.

So in short, eat lots (especially protein) and lift weights.  Don't worry about getting too buff.  Just... stop worrying about your calorie intake.  Just keep it up with eating the healthy food, don't limit yourself in terms of AMOUNTS of the healthy food. 

If you keep eating as healthy as you are and don't worry about limiting your intake, you will be health-wise leaps and bounds above your peers in terms of body health and also creating good eating habits for life.  There will come a time when the insatiable metabolisms slow down when you aren't growing anymore and those of your peers who are still eating everything in sight including junk food, etc. are going to pack on the pounds.  Keep up your healthy eating and don't ruin your metabolism by limiting it and you will most likely NOT find yourself in that situation.

Sorry about the book ;)

I wonder if something like a GoWear Fit would be helpful in this case?  I don;t know if they are accurate for teenagers but having an accurate calorie burn has helped me a lot, and I think benny might benefit from having a more clear picture of his calorie burn.

THis kinda thing drove me nuts until I bought a GOwear Fit.  Now I always know exactly what the burn was :)

I'm doing the program and love it.  I keep a small calorie deficit, though not too much because I'm focusing on really feeding my body but in the 3 weeks since I started that program I've seen some major results. 

Personally I don't think you are that far off-base.  I agree - while he might have been flirty with other girls in the same TIME PERIOD, actually literally hitting on three other women at the same time he was trying to smooth things over with you doesn't really seem like something a committed guy would do.

Then again, I also don't really believe in "harmless" flirtation either.  Lucky for me, neither does my hubby so we do well together.

Yes, you were broken up which means he could flirt with as many girls as he wanted but IMO if he was trying to get back together with you and is a man with any kind of integrity, he wouldn't have been trying to get with other women at the same time.

Depends on what the workouts are.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you probably need more than 12 minutes a day of exercise to see muscle definition.

If you want muscle definition, lift heavy weights, period.