Time for the girl to get serious.........

Ok, I've been flaffing around like a girl for too long now.  It's probably the wrong time of year to get motivated but I've just got myself a weight lifting, big muscled, personal training man.

I have never felt that overweight, 5'6, 150lbs on a good day, 154lbs today, but every "ideal weight" chart gives a top figure of around 155lbs for my age, height, frame etc, and my body fat is 27% so time to get toned, lean and serious!!!

Any tips for a beginner?

Sounds like you have the perfect framework for a really nice body…listen to your trainer that’s all, and always give 110% even when you feel like quitting…other than that….GO FOR IT!!!!!!!

 Don't overcomplicate things - and remember that no matter what you do for a workout, it's going to be your diet that gives you the results you want. As long as you make smart nutritional choices and work hard you can have excellent results no matter what form of exercise you choose ;)

Original Post by melkor:

 Don't overcomplicate things - and remember that no matter what you do for a workout, it's going to be your diet that gives you the results you want. As long as you make smart nutritional choices and work hard you can have excellent results no matter what form of exercise you choose ;)

 Amen

Can you two boys please provide us girls with a good outline of smart nutritional choices?

Thanks!

Original Post by kmleela:

Can you two boys please provide us girls with a good outline of smart nutritional choices?

Thanks!

 i could, but my outlines might kill you...lol...I take in from 45000-6000 calories per-day...my snacks are subway sandwiches...that being said...everything I eat is low fat... I even eat wholegrain pasta.  Melkor would be a better at this than me, because I eat anything...lots of protein reduced fat, and low to mid with the carbs...that's my success.

 Well, I like the revised and expanded Calorie Count "diet" with some musings thrown in: If it comes in a cardboard box, chances are it's not good for you. Whole food you cook yourself is better for you than anything ready-made.

 Eat real food whenever possible, there's no need to be carb-phobic or afraid of fat, for most people protein supplements are overrated outside of the convenience factor. Be wary if you can't pronounce the listed ingredients.

 Count your calories and keep notes how your body responds to variations in your diet, there are individual quirks that can help or hinder you in relation to your goals. My training suffers whenever carbs drop below 40-45% of my calories, I've got a friend who does fine on 30g or fewer carbs a day but I'd curl up and die on that. Learn how your body responds and feed it accordingly ;)

Original Post by melkor:

 Well, I like the revised and expanded Calorie Count "diet" with some musings thrown in: If it comes in a cardboard box, chances are it's not good for you. Whole food you cook yourself is better for you than anything ready-made.

 Eat real food whenever possible, there's no need to be carb-phobic or afraid of fat, for most people protein supplements are overrated outside of the convenience factor. Be wary if you can't pronounce the listed ingredients.

 Count your calories and keep notes how your body responds to variations in your diet, there are individual quirks that can help or hinder you in relation to your goals. My training suffers whenever carbs drop below 40-45% of my calories, I've got a friend who does fine on 30g or fewer carbs a day but I'd curl up and die on that. Learn how your body responds and feed it accordingly ;)

 And there you go...see I eat REAL food...I just make sure they are low in fat.  if it does happen to be high in fat...then I just limit the amount I eat, but I
 NEVER deprive myself of a goooooood meal...lol

Original Post by eddiepotter:

 And there you go...see I eat REAL food...I just make sure they are low in fat.  if it does happen to be high in fat...then I just limit the amount I eat, but I
 NEVER deprive myself of a goooooood meal...lol

 Why does food need to be low in fat? Fat is an essential nutrient and is necessary for vitamin absorption, heart health, and brain function amoung other things.

 'Low fat' became a diet craze in the 80's and what's happened since then? People have been getting steadily fatter and less healthy.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by eddiepotter:

 And there you go...see I eat REAL food...I just make sure they are low in fat.  if it does happen to be high in fat...then I just limit the amount I eat, but I
 NEVER deprive myself of a goooooood meal...lol

 Why does food need to be low in fat? Fat is an essential nutrient and is necessary for vitamin absorption, heart health, and brain function amoung other things.

 'Low fat' became a diet craze in the 80's and what's happened since then? People have been getting steadily fatter and less healthy.

 It has to be low in fat because if I eat 5-6000 calories a day, and most of the calories are from fat...how would I be able to fight?  I'd be slow and tired.  I never said to omit fat...I said reduce it.  you need fat, but like anything else too much is not good for you. you don't get an 8 pack from eating a lot of fat.

 I think the single greatest mistake made was when we stopped eating food and started focusing to much on nutrients. That started us down this path of declaring this or that nutrient 'evil' and responsible for fat gain - low fat, low carb, low protein, it's all pretty much an excuse to sell you over-processed industrial crap at a higher profit margin than real food.

 Lucky charms can add vitamins and make health claims on the cardboad box all they want, but I'll still bet you that an avocado is better for you.

Original Post by eddiepotter:

 It has to be low in fat because if I eat 5-6000 calories a day Why does eating that many calories mean you have to eat low fat?, and most of the calories are from fat...how would I be able to fight?  I'd be slow and tired.  I never said to omit fat...I said reduce it Reduce it to what level? most people already eat too little fat.  you need fat, but like anything else too much is not good for you Too little is also not good for you. you don't get an 8 pack from eating a lot of fat You also don't get an 8-pack from eating low fat.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by eddiepotter:

 It has to be low in fat because if I eat 5-6000 calories a day Why does eating that many calories mean you have to eat low fat?, and most of the calories are from fat...how would I be able to fight?  I'd be slow and tired.  I never said to omit fat...I said reduce it Reduce it to what level? most people already eat too little fat.  you need fat, but like anything else too much is not good for you Too little is also not good for you. you don't get an 8 pack from eating a lot of fat You also don't get an 8-pack from eating low fat.

 

Why does eating that many calories mean you have to eat low fat?

Since I eat so much during the day…it’s more healthy for me as an elite athlete to watch the fat that I eat….it’s just that simple.

Reduce it to what level? most people already eat too little fat.

I’m not most people.  I was a professional athlete, and I found personally that when my diet consisted of foods that were high in fat I felt more sluggish.

Now that I fight I find that I’m even more sluggish when I eat food with too much fat.  

Too little is also not good for you.

Who said I was eating too little?  The American Heart Association recommends limiting dietary fat to 30% of total calories, however, if you are overweight, need to lower blood cholesterol or have another medical concern, you may need less than the recommended 30%.  Fat IS very important for us because it is what insulates our internal organs and promotes healthier skin and brain functions.  But if you eat 6000 calories per day like I do…taking in 30 percent is not going to be too good for me.  So I limit the amount of fat intake…like I said…I don’t omit it from my diet, but I do set limits.

You also don't get an 8-pack from eating low fat.

I DID!!!  This is part of the reason why I’m lean, but strong and healthy.  I know what my body needs, and I listen to my body.  Men need to maintain 3% or above body fat to be considered healthy…women need to maintain 12%.  

So you go ahead and eat as much fat as you want…feel free…any info I give is perfectly sound and I would never guide anyone in the wrong direction. 

And don’t mistake my words for coming off mean…I understand we are all on the forum here to learn…a person who thinks they know everything really knows nothing if he thinks he can’t learn from others.  I’m just telling you what I know and what has worked for me.  I don’t mind constructive conversations, and so far ours is good, because it’s is informing people of things they might not have known.  

Thanks people, looks like there are plenty of people in this forum that are going to be able to help me!  ;o)

Original Post by eddiepotter:

And don’t mistake my words for coming off mean…I understand we are all on the forum here to learn…a person who thinks they know everything really knows nothing if he thinks he can’t learn from others.  I’m just telling you what I know and what has worked for me.  I don’t mind constructive conversations, and so far ours is good, because it’s is informing people of things they might not have known.  

Eddie, I didn't take anything you said as being mean (and I hope you don't take anything I say that way), I think a lot of our disagreements could just be a misunderstanding, but there are a few points I'd like to make:

1) I don't doubt that you feel and perform better when you eat low fat foods, I read your earlier statements as you recommending to another poster that low fat would be the way to go for that person (and going back to look at it, I may have misinterpreted what you said) and that is what I disagree with.  What people, who compete at a high level, do for their sports is very rarely something that would be considered 'healthy' for your average non-athlete.  Getting hit in the ribs with a baseball bat might make you a better fighter but wouldn't be a good idea for someone just trying to get in shape, eating a low fat diet might help you with fighting, but that doens't mean it's good for the average person.

2) I also disagree that a reduced fat diet is necessary or even beneficial for people who need to lose weight or lower their cholesteral.  I read a book not to long ago co-authored by Jeff Volek, who's a professor in the human performance lab at UConn which argued for the health benefits of higher fat diets.  A quick search for Dr. Volek's work on pubmed turned up a bunch of studies backing this up including this one which found greater improvements to cardiovascular health for a group that ate a diet with Carb/fat/protein ratio of ~12/59/28 than a group who ate a diet of 56/24/20 (closer to the AHA's recommendations).  There was also this one which found that a diet consisting of 65% fat lead to a decrease in LDL (bad cholesterol) of 9% (and a decrease in triglycerides of 38%) while HDL (good cholesterol) rose 12%.  And last but not lease, this one, which found people on a high fat diet (63%) lost more weight, and more fat than those on a lower fat diet (22%) even when the high-fat diet group ate significantly (~300) more calories than the low fat group.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Original Post by eddiepotter:

And don’t mistake my words for coming off mean…I understand we are all on the forum here to learn…a person who thinks they know everything really knows nothing if he thinks he can’t learn from others.  I’m just telling you what I know and what has worked for me.  I don’t mind constructive conversations, and so far ours is good, because it’s is informing people of things they might not have known.  

Eddie, I didn't take anything you said as being mean (and I hope you don't take anything I say that way), I think a lot of our disagreements could just be a misunderstanding, but there are a few points I'd like to make:

1) I don't doubt that you feel and perform better when you eat low fat foods, I read your earlier statements as you recommending to another poster that low fat would be the way to go for that person (and going back to look at it, I may have misinterpreted what you said) and that is what I disagree with.  What people, who compete at a high level, do for their sports is very rarely something that would be considered 'healthy' for your average non-athlete.  Getting hit in the ribs with a baseball bat might make you a better fighter but wouldn't be a good idea for someone just trying to get in shape, eating a low fat diet might help you with fighting, but that doens't mean it's good for the average person.

2) I also disagree that a reduced fat diet is necessary or even beneficial for people who need to lose weight or lower their cholesteral.  I read a book not to long ago co-authored by Jeff Volek, who's a professor in the human performance lab at UConn which argued for the health benefits of higher fat diets.  A quick search for Dr. Volek's work on pubmed turned up a bunch of studies backing this up including this one which found greater improvements to cardiovascular health for a group that ate a diet with Carb/fat/protein ratio of ~12/59/28 than a group who ate a diet of 56/24/20 (closer to the AHA's recommendations).  There was also this one which found that a diet consisting of 65% fat lead to a decrease in LDL (bad cholesterol) of 9% (and a decrease in triglycerides of 38%) while HDL (good cholesterol) rose 12%.  And last but not lease, this one, which found people on a high fat diet (63%) lost more weight, and more fat than those on a lower fat diet (22%) even when the high-fat diet group ate significantly (~300) more calories than the low fat group.

 good info...we learn something new everyday.  This is good info.  thanks for sharing.  not sure if it's true or not, but It's good to know other things.  thanks... I would like to look into it more.  good find.

Hi Eddie, just wanted to say that by cutting fat out of my diet a few years ago, I was able to lose 145 lbs.  It was great, easy as can be, and worked like a charm :o)

Original Post by kwimbea:

Hi Eddie, just wanted to say that by cutting fat out of my diet a few years ago, I was able to lose 145 lbs.  It was great, easy as can be, and worked like a charm :o)

 awesome...i guess it works for some  and not for others.

sunnybra...

Are you my twin??!!  I am 5'6" and 150-155.  I just met with a trainer on Tuesday.  He measured me, did an electrical impediance (sp?) and a fat caliper test on me.  The caliper can a reading of 22-25% body fat while the other gave a little over 28%.  My measurements are 36.5, 30, 41(ugh)....obviously, I'm pear shaped...it's so hard for me to tighten up my lower body.  I've always been healthy and eat very well...most of the time.  I hired the trainer because I am ready for that next level of fitness!!!! 

Also, for the boys that responded...do you two ever get to indulged and drink socially?  Does this affect your being able to keep your body fat down?  I just feel that drinking may be hindering my fat loss but isn't unrealistic of me to say I'll never have a drink while out with friends?

Thanks!!  Tiffany

Original Post by tonedmom:

sunnybra...

Are you my twin??!!  I am 5'6" and 150-155.  I just met with a trainer on Tuesday.  He measured me, did an electrical impediance (sp?) and a fat caliper test on me.  The caliper can a reading of 22-25% body fat while the other gave a little over 28%.  My measurements are 36.5, 30, 41(ugh)....obviously, I'm pear shaped...it's so hard for me to tighten up my lower body.  I've always been healthy and eat very well...most of the time.  I hired the trainer because I am ready for that next level of fitness!!!! 

 

Also, for the boys that responded...do you two ever get to indulged and drink socially?  Does this affect your being able to keep your body fat down?  I just feel that drinking may be hindering my fat loss but isn't unrealistic of me to say I'll never have a drink while out with friends?

 

Thanks!!  Tiffany

 UI drink on occasions...ut it doesn't bother me at all.  when I'm slightly over tipsy I stop.