Burning fat maintaining muscle, diet ideas and workout tips.

[carey67]

Lately I have been focusing solo on gaining muscle so my diet and training has been only around that. My current goal is to loose as much fat as possible, in order to gain some definition.
My question is what?s everyone?s typical diet like for burning fat? Im 5.5 and around 150, I do suffer from having a very slow metabolism.
What should my calorie intake be? Do I stick to lots of veggies? Is it ok to keep a high protein intake? Also what kinds of exercises are best? I don?t have gym access however I have a bowflex, total gym, and a treadmill, and free weights. I know this is a very compact question, for that I apologize I am still very knew to this area.

[mlpelzel]

Carb cycling

Days 1&2
a 60.20.20 break up. Meaning that out of all the calories I eat, 60%is lean protein (chicken, tuna, turkey breast) 20%carb and 20% fats (this would be my low carb days) the carbs on these days come only from veggies

Days 3&4
a 50.30.20. so I decrease a bit on protien and increase a bit on carbs. this is the day that I add complex carbs like oatmeal, brown rice, and beans and pretty much all the veggies I want. it may be too low for you so a 40.40.20 might would work. or 40.30.30

I never eat below 800calories/day. I eat 5 meals a day, this keeps your metabolism going. Remember, it takes more energy for your body to break down protien than carbs. so a higher protien diet increases your metabolism. I also dont eat any dairy, fruits, sugars, or anything fattening, no breads of anykind.

now for training:
1hour of weights followed by 20 min of hi intensity cardio 3days a week then on the other days i'm working up to an hour of HIIT (HI Intensity Training) aka cardio. keeping my heart rate in the 60%-80%range which for me that's a HR of 135-160

the most important thing is to remember that i'm doing a very very strict and limiting diet and hitting it hard in the gym. this is only temporary, because a well balanced diet is the best. this is just to shed some poundage quick. also it's better if you eat 1.5g of protien per lb of weight to prevent the body from stripping muscle too.

[carey67]

Thanks for the replay! I will deffanilty try what you reccomended. Now for the 1 hour of wieght training, do you focus more on free weights or machine?

[mlpelzel]

I do both...sorry it took so long to reply.....how is it going?

[verySMALL]

Carb cycling

Days 1&2
a 60.20.20 break up. Meaning that out of all the calories I eat, 60%is lean protein (chicken, tuna, turkey breast) 20%carb and 20% fats (this would be my low carb days) the carbs on these days come only from veggies

Days 3&4
a 50.30.20. so I decrease a bit on protien and increase a bit on carbs. this is the day that I add complex carbs like oatmeal, brown rice, and beans and pretty much all the veggies I want. it may be too low for you so a 40.40.20 might would work. or 40.30.30

I never eat below 800calories/day. I eat 5 meals a day, this keeps your metabolism going. Remember, it takes more energy for your body to break down protien than carbs. so a higher protien diet increases your metabolism. I also dont eat any dairy, fruits, sugars, or anything fattening, no breads of anykind.

now for training:
1hour of weights followed by 20 min of hi intensity cardio 3days a week then on the other days i'm working up to an hour of HIIT (HI Intensity Training) aka cardio. keeping my heart rate in the 60%-80%range which for me that's a HR of 135-160

the most important thing is to remember that i'm doing a very very strict and limiting diet and hitting it hard in the gym. this is only temporary, because a well balanced diet is the best. this is just to shed some poundage quick. also it's better if you eat 1.5g of protien per lb of weight to prevent the body from stripping muscle too.

i disagree, i think she would be better off by just sticking to carb cut off times and reducing her soda intake throughout the day and replacing it with proper hydration (ie water)

workouts on their own, dont do any cardio afterwards as it is counterproductive.

do cardio on off days, high intensity 20 mins a pop, if you wanted to go overkill then i suggest doing some low intensity cardio everyday in the mornings, ie go for a brisk walk for 45 minutes after breakfast(or water+bcaas) then do the workouts in the PM


i dont know how dedicated or involved you are, but these are just simple guidelines that would ease anyone into losing weight to start with before taking a more advanced approach as mentioned by the poster above me.

[gountilfailure0]

yeah carb cut off are good id never go without my milk or fruits no reason to cut any of them out of ur dietto gain muscle and lose fat u have to rely on cardio to do ur fat burning as ur in a calorie surplus it can be done but difficult

[carey67]

Thanks for the tips guys I really appreciate it.. And as far as the soda goes, I havent even touched a soda in at least 6 months. I never have sweets, or anything I am extremly clean in my diet.

I am currently at 20% Body fat my gaol is to get down to 12%
Anyways I will deffanilty add some more cardio to my workout on off days then. Is it better I do HIT verses long distance endurance training for maitaining the muscle?

[mlpelzel]

HIIT is better. See this link by layne norton under the "cardio" section around 3/4 of the way down. i refer to it often. easy read and makes sence. and BTW, I only did the training that hard for 2 weeks for a personal event. I wouldn't suggest it on a long term basis. it's better to break up your cardio and weights on different days.



http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/layne36.htm

[JVo]

You should check out the book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto, which is only available online. As the title implies, it's all about how to cut weight without losing (too much) muscle.

[Most Muscular]

I never eat below 800calories/day.

At 160 lbs I can't see how you can maintain any muscle mass on 800 calories per day! geeze, you should be having at least twice that many! yes, having more meals will speed your metabolism but with that low calories you're not going to maintain muscle mass!

I've felt the secret to maintaining muscle mass is to continue with the type of training that produced it. Lifting heavy will promote muscle to be built on your frame and going with lighter weights while dieting will only make your body think it doesn't need the added muscle mass anymore since it's not doing the same amount of work... remember your body doesn't like adding muscle size to your structure because muscle is more high maintenance than fat, etc. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Keep lifting as heavy as you can is my philosophy.

nuff said...

[pirouette]

You should check out the book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto, which is only available online. As the title implies, it's all about how to cut weight without losing (too much) muscle.

X2...it has everything you need to know. I keep mine as a desktop icon.

[terracotta]

At 17 years old you have to be careful not to drop your calories too low. You are still growing. Women typically stop growing at age 21. You do not need to cycle carbohydrates and I would not recommend it to someone under 20 years old as you are still growing. And I don't necessarily mean taller, women grow hips at about your age.

Check out the dieting info on my site, but don't drop your calories drastically. About 200 calories below maintenance is what I would suggest. My site is www.hotnfit.com

[terracotta]

Oh, and make sure you get LOTS of calcium, vegetables, and whole grains.

[mlpelzel]

At 160 lbs I can't see how you can maintain any muscle mass on 800 calories per day! geeze, you should be having at least twice that many! yes, having more meals will speed your metabolism but with that low calories you're not going to maintain muscle mass!

sorry I was misleading. I didn't mean to imply that I eat 800 cal/day. I try to stay above 1500cal and below 2200 the best I can. You are right, you can't eat 800cal and retain muscle mass.