The Best Way?

[MrsMB]

Whats the best way to trim down with out a crash diet? I'm one of those ppl that has tried every diet there is. lol I've come to turms with my body type, and my build but I have a lot of flabby skin and excess fat to shed. I'm looking for help with building muscle but ridding my body of the fat. I can't take the so called fat loss pills. they make me sick. SO what do I do? I've been doing 60mins of cardio 4-6days a week, then I weight train, I have light days and heavy days. The messed up thing is I keep gaining weight! I'm 250, 5'6 and growing! I mean my clothes are fitting better but I can't stand to see the numbers go up and I don't see me bulking up. So can anyone threw me a bone?

[LifeLesOrdinary]

It's said that 80% of what your body is like is due to what you eat. If you don't have that in check then nothing you can do in the gym will help much. Crash diets or any Fad diets for that matter are not the answer. Most of them will actually make you fatter in the long run by screwing up your metabolism. I still have a lot of weight to lose but I'm down 86 lbs from when I started. Cutting out all the junk food and replacing it with whole real food was key. I suggest you do your best to learn as much as possible about nutrition, it is a vast subject. Most people think they know everything about it but once they get into it realize how little they really knew. I would recommend reading "Clean Eating" by Tosca Reno, reading through the hundreds of articles on bodybuilding.com and asking specific questions here if (when) you have them. I can tell you that few people here would argue with the following: Eat whole real food as often as possible. Try to eliminate any foods that have manmade ingredients. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit. Eat often 5 or 6 times a day. [Edit: Drink lots of water.] Once you manage to get all that in check you can start to think about your total calorie count and your macro breakdown.

I hope this helps,

have a great day!
-Holly

[CutGirl]

Originally Posted by MrsMB

Whats the best way to trim down with out a crash diet? I'm one of those ppl that has tried every diet there is. lol I've come to turms with my body type, and my build but I have a lot of flabby skin and excess fat to shed. I'm looking for help with building muscle but ridding my body of the fat. I can't take the so called fat loss pills. they make me sick. SO what do I do? I've been doing 60mins of cardio 4-6days a week, then I weight train, I have light days and heavy days. The messed up thing is I keep gaining weight! I'm 250, 5'6 and growing! I mean my clothes are fitting better but I can't stand to see the numbers go up and I don't see me bulking up. So can anyone threw me a bone?

Hey MrsMB, girl congratulations on committing to your workout program. I did things the exact opposite of you. I lost about 75 before I felt confident enough to hit the gym. The reason I wish I had worked out while cutting is because I ended up smaller, but with a lot of flab. It's taken me another year to really feel good about myself so having said that here's what I think. In order to trim down(let's call it cut) you need to diet. Don't drop excercise routine, but do look seriously at your diet.

To answer your question more succinctly--the best way is to create your own no bull**** cut diet that you like enough to stick to for the long haul.

Can you tell us what you eat on a daily basis? Do you know how much you eat by way of calories,carbs and protein? If you don't know you should start there. I used the free online vs but then graduated to the pc version.

[Tootella]

almost any diet will work.

low carb diets work, 40/40/20 works.... heck, even slim-fast "works."(not with a desirable result, IMHO)

the key to ANY diet is consistency. (which is something i struggle with as well, but i just keep getting back on track and trying my best)

Good luck to you in reaching your goals!!

[ivoryce]

Avoid simple processed sugars. Many products have things like high-fructose corn syrup etc... And these are converted VERY quick forcing your body to produce high amounts of insulin in response. This insulin does several things, one of the things it does that you don't want is fat storage. If you cause excess amounts of insulin in your body it a) means you're going to store fat; it's inevitable... and b) you're eating too many carbs (particularly simple as complex digest slower) at a given time. If you eat too many grams of ANY macro (protein/fat/carbs) they will inevitably be store for later use AKA fat. If you eat TOO much protein in one sitting as your body can only utilize so much at a given time, the remainder is stored as fat. Same goes for fat... It's vital you get in enough healthy fats in your diet (but not too many at one time).

Make your diet simple:

~ Eat several times a day to keep your blood sugar levels stable (subsequently keeping insulin levels at a minimum). You may even consider taking chromium picolinate, which helps stabilize blood sugar levels and makes your body more sensitive to insulin therefore you need less in response to an influx of carbs being digested
~ Drink lots of water - fills you up and your body will operate more efficiently.
~ Try to get fairly even macros in each meal
~ Avoid simple sugars by themselves and processed sugars at all times - Try to eat fruits etc... with healthy fat and proteins. Just remember, even out macros together each time you eat
~ Make sure you're replenishing lost glycogen from workouts by eating enough carbs
~ Pay attention to how you feel and recognize when certain foods adversely affect your goals

PS If your clothes are fitting better and you're eating the way you should don't worry about the weight... it may go up slightly and then go down after the initial change in your diet/exercise regime. BUT if you're panicky about it then I might assume you aren't eating as well as you could be.

Good luck with your goals!! You've come to the right place for support and inspiration!

[ivoryce]

Aside from diet, one way of cutting which has given many great results is burning off glycogen stores BEFORE cardio... So lower weight, high reps lifting alternating from one exercise to the other, don't rest if you can help it - keep your HR up, then do moderate intensity cardio following - like walking on treadmill, with or without incline depending on fitness level. You deplete the glycogen levels in your muscles in the lifting, forcing your body to call on fat reserves to fuel your cardio. You might want to take something like SciVation's Xtend to avoid muscle breakdown during your cardio.