How to lose fat for Noobs

[christina916]

Cardio has its health benefits but keep in mind what your goal is - to lose weight.

My main goal is to lower my body fat percentage all over.
What, in your opinion, is the best thing(s) to do along with a health diet?

[Insight]

My main goal is to lower my body fat percentage all over.
What, in your opinion, is the best thing(s) to do along with a health diet?

what do you mean a "health diet?"

[christina916]

what do you mean a "health diet?"

ooops, i meant healthy diet

[Insight]

ooops, i meant healthy diet

if your goal is to lose weight you need to understand the following: you can cut out all of the junk food in the world, only eat spinach and grilled chicken, cut out refined carbs, cut out saturated fat, and cut out artificial processed crap, and if your calories for the day aren't under your maintenance, you will never EVER lose weight.

luckily, there is a counterpoint to this: you can eat all of the crap that you want and if your calories ARE under your maintenance, you WILL lose weight.

of course you will want to eat relatively so as to not die, but the point is this: separate "eating healthy" and "eating for weight loss" in your mind. most days you will eat healthy because you will naturally want to eat healthy. you will probably eat a bit of junk but for the most part, you'll be fine. however, there will be days every now and then that come up where you eat more crap than usual (pizza, hamburgers, etc). make sure you still lose weight on those days by meeting your calorie goal.

use nutritiondata.com or sparkpeople.com or fitday.com to log your food. ONLY once you understand that worry about exercise. you can "eat healthy" and "exercise" all you want, but if you don't get this calorie stuff figured out, you will never, ever ever lose weight.

this is, in fact, the key reason why America struggles to lose weight, believe it or not.

[Insight]

the second thing you need to do is pick a form of exercise. something that you enjoy doing and something that doesn't take up all of your god damn time.

you could do endurance stuff if that's your thing (running), or you could do some weight lifting if that's your thing. or perhaps a combination of the two.

if you're not sure what you want to do I say go with the weight lifting. like i said, all pro's routine in the beginner workout forum is a good way to go. i could find you something else if that doesn't seem right or if you'd rather use machines (but free weights are far more awesome, like i said).

[mattb_25]

Whats up guys, I just wanna give a shout out to wave for this freakin awesome 3 rule diet. I used to work out last year but I quit and gained quite a bit of weight, which was just annoying as hell.. I started working out again at the start of the year but it was just mainly to get muscle back that I lost.. I've gained some of it back but I just had too much fat to bulk up, so I decided that I wanted to lose weight then bulk after.

Well after trying some carb diets and other diets that I just couldnt follow I finally found this, and behold I've lost 22 lbs in about 1 1/2 -2 months.. I was at 206.5 lbs, and currently at 184.5, with my goal being at 180 but that will probably go down more. I'm much slimmer but I still have a considerable amount of fat around my mid section and parts of my body, either way everything seems to be going good so far..

I do have question though, and I have read through a lot of this thread, but I cant seem to recall seeing this question or not. Basically I've been pretty good on not eating over my limit in cals, and most of the time I eat around 1.2k-1.5k but with the proper amount of protein per day..

Today I went out with my friends because it was his birthday, and I went to applebee's and ate one of the under 500 calorie meals, then a few hours later he ordered pizza from pizza hut and I actually ate a bit because I haven't had food like that in awhile, so I actually went maybe 200-300 calories over my limit of 1.7k .. Now if I do this I can just eat like 400 cals under my limit the next day and I should be okay for the week right? Just wondering because I haven't actually went over my limit since I've started which wont happen again and I'm probably tripping for no reason, but I was just curious about this. Anyways hope someone can just give me a quick answer and props for this kickass thread guys

[wave_length]

Whats up guys, I just wanna give a shout out to wave for this freakin awesome 3 rule diet. I used to work out last year but I quit and gained quite a bit of weight, which was just annoying as hell.. I started working out again at the start of the year but it was just mainly to get muscle back that I lost.. I've gained some of it back but I just had too much fat to bulk up, so I decided that I wanted to lose weight then bulk after.

Well after trying some carb diets and other diets that I just couldnt follow I finally found this, and behold I've lost 22 lbs in about 1 1/2 -2 months.. I was at 206.5 lbs, and currently at 184.5, with my goal being at 180 but that will probably go down more. I'm much slimmer but I still have a considerable amount of fat around my mid section and parts of my body, either way everything seems to be going good so far..

I do have question though, and I have read through a lot of this thread, but I cant seem to recall seeing this question or not. Basically I've been pretty good on not eating over my limit in cals, and most of the time I eat around 1.2k-1.5k but with the proper amount of protein per day..

Today I went out with my friends because it was his birthday, and I went to applebee's and ate one of the under 500 calorie meals, then a few hours later he ordered pizza from pizza hut and I actually ate a bit because I haven't had food like that in awhile, so I actually went maybe 200-300 calories over my limit of 1.7k .. Now if I do this I can just eat like 400 cals under my limit the next day and I should be okay for the week right? Just wondering because I haven't actually went over my limit since I've started which wont happen again and I'm probably tripping for no reason, but I was just curious about this. Anyways hope someone can just give me a quick answer and props for this kickass thread guys

Yes you can but don't worry about 200-300 calories. I would plan in a high calorie day every once in a while anyway to keep sanity. Good luck!

[Insight]

Well after trying some carb diets and other diets that I just couldnt follow I finally found this, and behold I've lost 22 lbs in about 1 1/2 -2 months..

holy sh*t

Today I went out with my friends because it was his birthday, and I went to applebee's and ate one of the under 500 calorie meals, then a few hours later he ordered pizza from pizza hut and I actually ate a bit because I haven't had food like that in awhile, so I actually went maybe 200-300 calories over my limit of 1.7k .. Now if I do this I can just eat like 400 cals under my limit the next day and I should be okay for the week right?

yes. but more importantly, what you can do is just not worry about it. you ate 200-300 cals. How much of a deficit are you on per day? 1500 to have lost 3 lbs a week?

So your going 200-300 cals over your goal means you lost 1/6 of a day of progress. who gives a sh*t.

[mattb_25]

Yes you can but don't worry about 200-300 calories. I would plan in a high calorie day every once in a while anyway to keep sanity. Good luck!

Heh, yeah for sure, I really needed a good day for just eating out but not go crazy with it. Thanks for the fast reply wave!

[mattb_25]

holy sh*t



yes. but more importantly, what you can do is just not worry about it. you ate 200-300 cals. How much of a deficit are you on per day? 1500 to have lost 3 lbs a week?

So your going 200-300 cals over your goal means you lost 1/6 of a day of progress. who gives a sh*t.

Well I have this free app on my iphone called Lose it that gives you an idea of how many calories you can eat a day to lose 2 lbs a week, and mine was set for 1.8k per day but it automatically lowers it anytime you change your weight and it's currently down to 1.7k. I usually dont get near 1.7k so yeah I shouldn't give a crap about going over one day but I've been making such good progress that I just don't wanna screw up any you know :P... Thanks for info also bro.

[christina916]

if your goal is to lose weight you need to understand the following: you can cut out all of the junk food in the world, only eat spinach and grilled chicken, cut out refined carbs, cut out saturated fat, and cut out artificial processed crap, and if your calories for the day aren't under your maintenance, you will never EVER lose weight.

luckily, there is a counterpoint to this: you can eat all of the crap that you want and if your calories ARE under your maintenance, you WILL lose weight.

of course you will want to eat relatively so as to not die, but the point is this: separate "eating healthy" and "eating for weight loss" in your mind. most days you will eat healthy because you will naturally want to eat healthy. you will probably eat a bit of junk but for the most part, you'll be fine. however, there will be days every now and then that come up where you eat more crap than usual (pizza, hamburgers, etc). make sure you still lose weight on those days by meeting your calorie goal.

use nutritiondata.com or sparkpeople.com or fitday.com to log your food. ONLY once you understand that worry about exercise. you can "eat healthy" and "exercise" all you want, but if you don't get this calorie stuff figured out, you will never, ever ever lose weight.

this is, in fact, the key reason why America struggles to lose weight, believe it or not.

as in caloric intake vs actual usage... caloric deficit?
I have all that in check. I eat 1200 calories a day..maybe 1300 max.
So the caloric part isn't where I lack in knowledge, or struggle as most people do.

[illninofan21]

WTF? I lose a few pounds and now it looks like I have gyno?

Strange choice of fat-loss areas by my body.

[Insight]

as in caloric intake vs actual usage... caloric deficit?
I have all that in check. I eat 1200 calories a day..maybe 1300 max.
So the caloric part isn't where I lack in knowledge, or struggle as most people do.

right. just making sure.

[hypnojedi]

Is walking (not at a fast pace) 4 miles in a couple of hours going to cost muscle..?

[superfrk]

Having trouble coming up with my maintenance cals, I have tried Fitday and a few other calc tools but the numbers are way off>

Here is my current stats 225lbs 5' 9" and I am pretty close to 15 - 16% BF so if I figure it right my LBM is around 190lbs and to get to 9% BF i need to lose about 21 lbs of fat.
Currently I inhale roughly 3.5k to 5K cals with some +/- 5-6lbs fluctuation in total weight.

With that in mind what would be a good base maintenance cals to start with> In the past when I have tried dropping BF i have lost too much muscle.

Any help would be great thanks

[superfrk]

WTF? I lose a few pounds and now it looks like I have gyno?

Strange choice of fat-loss areas by my body.

You can use one of the research chem estrogen blockers, to help lose the weight more evenly, sounds like you have some estrogen based fat patterns, basically excess testosterone in your body converts to estrogen which has an affinity to bind to fat cells, this type of bound fat is sometimes called stubborn fat as it is harder to lose.

[illninofan21]

You can use one of the research chem estrogen blockers, to help lose the weight more evenly, sounds like you have some estrogen based fat patterns, basically excess testosterone in your body converts to estrogen which has an affinity to bind to fat cells, this type of bound fat is sometimes called stubborn fat as it is harder to lose.

I take it back...I'm just fat, thank god.

[BigfatRob]

I take it back...I'm just fat, thank god.

I've always told people to pray they were just too fat and most of them don't understand. It's crazy what a pain in the ass loose skin or gyno actually is and how expensive it can be to take care of. I'm glad you're just too fat as well, there's a cheap easy fix for that lard

[ErickStevens]

As of today, I'm down 10.5lbs in 6 weeks. BRB "cheating" every other day and losing fat.

[sportyaccordy]

Having trouble coming up with my maintenance cals, I have tried Fitday and a few other calc tools but the numbers are way off>

Here is my current stats 225lbs 5' 9" and I am pretty close to 15 - 16% BF so if I figure it right my LBM is around 190lbs and to get to 9% BF i need to lose about 21 lbs of fat.
Currently I inhale roughly 3.5k to 5K cals with some +/- 5-6lbs fluctuation in total weight.

With that in mind what would be a good base maintenance cals to start with> In the past when I have tried dropping BF i have lost too much muscle.

Any help would be great thanks

3,000 calories is probably a good place to start as far as a # to use for maintenance

[BigfatRob]

In the past when I have tried dropping BF i have lost too much muscle.

Any help would be great thanks

Try lifting heavier weights and consuming more protein. Doing the following I doubt you've lost too much muscle but of course that's a matter of opinion. Odds are that you lost a lot of fat and have mislead yourself into thinking it's loss in lean body mass.

[kingpinfahad]

BOLD = Q
lean body mass is basically is - my BF reading ? so at mo Im 208lb, but my lean body mass is around 172lb. Does this mean I need to have 172grams of protein ? the more the better ???

bro... I cant figure mine out,

I have this reading from the scale at gym:
weight: 83.7 kg
fat% 32.9 %
fat mass: 27.5 kg
ffm: 56.2 kg
tbw: 41.1 kg

so whats my lean body mass ?????

[BigfatRob]

bro... I cant figure mine out,

I have this reading from the scale at gym:
weight: 83.7 kg
fat% 32.9 %
fat mass: 27.5 kg
ffm: 56.2 kg
tbw: 41.1 kg

so whats my lean body mass ?????

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=56.2+X+2.2

[ErickStevens]

Wave, did you ever have any conversations like this when you started getting really lean?

"Wow bro, looking good! What's your diet like? Low carb, right? You probably never cheat."
"Well actually, I eat pretty much whatever I want while respecting my caloric limit. Egg whites, chicken, broccoli, oatmeal, candy, ice cream, pizza, burritos, sushi, cereal... Stuff like that."
"... Wut."

[BigfatRob]

Wave, did you ever have any conversations like this when you started getting really lean?

"Wow bro, looking good! What's your diet like? Low carb, right? You probably never cheat."
"Well actually, I eat pretty much whatever I want while respecting my caloric limit. Egg whites, chicken, broccoli, oatmeal, candy, ice cream, pizza, burritos, sushi, cereal... Stuff like that."
"... Wut."

They probably also said he did craploads of cardio as well =/

[wave_length]

Wave, did you ever have any conversations like this when you started getting really lean?

"Wow bro, looking good! What's your diet like? Low carb, right? You probably never cheat."
"Well actually, I eat pretty much whatever I want while respecting my caloric limit. Egg whites, chicken, broccoli, oatmeal, candy, ice cream, pizza, burritos, sushi, cereal... Stuff like that."
"... Wut."

They probably also said he did craploads of cardio as well =/

Actually, I rarely got complimented, most people asked me if I was sick or becoming anorexic.

What's funny is that even family and friends would rather listen to some TV/Magazine quack than to someone who got ripped before their very eyes. Doesn't bother me but if someone asks me, I'll tell them how it really works.

[BigfatRob]

Actually, I rarely got complimented, most people asked me if I was sick or becoming anorexic.

What's funny is that even family and friends would rather listen to some TV/Magazine quack than to someone who got ripped before their very eyes. Doesn't bother me but if someone asks me, I'll tell them how it really works.

Yea...my family is the same way. I've explained to them too many times what works and what doesn't, they prefer to lose the same 5 pounds and then gain 10 back. I wouldn't say it's funny but it's sad. What really upsets me is that my sister and aunt pay a personal trainer(who looks like trash and has a knowledge base of bro-science) $60.00 an hour.

[iDrive]

you can "eat healthy" and "exercise" all you want, but if you don't get this calorie stuff figured out, you will never, ever ever lose weight.

this is, in fact, the key reason why America struggles to lose weight, believe it or not.

This deserves repeating.

[csb5731]

What's funny is that even family and friends would rather listen to some TV/Magazine quack than to someone who got ripped before their very eyes. Doesn't bother me but if someone asks me, I'll tell them how it really works.

So true. Unless what I have said or recommended to my relatives coincides with Dr. Phil's advice, it's disregarded as quackery. And I truly believe that they are less likely to question the the TV-advertised results for some ab-gadget or fat-burning pill than from a calculated diet and weight-training.

Moreover (and my biggest peeve), to several of my friends, weight-training is looked upon as a means to inadvertently get too muscular and bulky and therefore has no place in the fat-loss regimen.

[DSUP]

if your goal is to lose weight you need to understand the following: you can cut out all of the junk food in the world, only eat spinach and grilled chicken, cut out refined carbs, cut out saturated fat, and cut out artificial processed crap, and if your calories for the day aren't under your maintenance, you will never EVER lose weight.

You can "eat healthy" and "exercise" all you want, but if you don't get this calorie stuff figured out, you will never, ever ever lose weight.

this is, in fact, the key reason why America struggles to lose weight, believe it or not.

I just finished a bulk that took me from 175 last winter to 190 this morning. I GAINED that weight while continuing to exercise three times a week (including cardio and for a total of six hours a week) and without eating junk food (well, maybe a burrito once a week). I ate the same foods (chicken breasts, eggs, fish, lean beef, broccoli, etc.) that I ate the last time I cut but I ate more of them.

Now, it's time to start counting the calories closely while keeping the lifts heavy and SHRED THIS MOTHER UP! As I gained weight over the last four months, it freaked me out a little because it took a lot of effort to lose it. However, WaveLength has made the whole thing so simple that I am confident that I will be able to lose the extra fat that I took on over the last four months and that, hopefully, some of that extra 15 pounds is muscle that I can convince to stay behind by feeding it protein and making it feel needed by continuing to lift heavy.



By the way, I've still read every post in this thread (just sayin' is all)!