XdougyX's Tips and advice for fat loss thread. Ask anything!

[xdougyx]

Tips and advice for successful fat-loss
June 4, 2008
By: Doug Hershberger
Before

After




First off, my name?s Doug Hershberger. To give you some background, I was fat.
I inherited a slow metabolism from my mom, and a wide structure from my dad. I don?t blame my weight solely on that, but it did have something to do with it. The main reason was just that I simply did not eat healthy, or exercise enough. I played three sport when I was younger, played baseball until I was 17, and had lifted weights since I was 12, although I never put much heart into it. Long story short, I reached my peak weight of about 270 lbs, a year and a half ago. Unlike most, my decision to lose weight was not planned out or decided upon in a pre-destined way; it was sporadic. I can say that I really started losing weight at about the spring of 2007 during baseball season. I was so overweight, that the weight I did lose was just water, some muscle, and surface fat. By the summer of 2007, I weighed around 250, or so, and because of where I was working, (a nutraceutical warehouse), and the circumstances of my summer, that is really when I jump-started my fat-loss. Between then and now, I have made many mistakes, including carelessly eating bulimic for a short period of time, and over-training. Despite that, the things I have learned from those mistakes have been very useful, and still are. As I type, I weigh 196 lbs, and still losing. I have gained quite a bit of muscle, and my lifts increase every month. I train 4 days a week, and do cardiovascular exercises two to four times a week. I have not drank a soda for over a year, rarely eat deserts, and am addicted to exercising. Because of this, I no longer crave sugary foods. I plan to have six-pack abs by the beginning of 2009, although I am having some trouble being consistent because of multiple injuries that have occurred one after the other. I have compiled some tips and advise for those who are in need of help, most are ones I wish I would have had when I first started out.

1There are two major ingredients to the recipe of fat loss; Diet and exercise. You cannot achieve good fat loss without both. You can only lose so much with one or the other.
2It's not as important how much you eat it as to WHEN you eat it.
3In order to lose fat without also losing muscle, it's going to take a heck of a longer time than if you lost both...Go with the first option, it's more healthier.
4Cheat days actually help you to lose weight. Research this, ask me more, or just try it if you don?t believe me
5In order to lose fat, you have eat to less more often. At least every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism up and running all day.
6DO NOT eat any CARBS 3-4 hours before you go to bed; i.e.- you go to bed at 10; don?t eat any carbs after 7.
7If you absolutely have to eat junk food, eat it as early in the day as possible, so your body has a longer period of time to burn it.
8It's not possible to lose weight healthily without eating a good breakfast?EAT IT and shut up
9Read, read, read. You will learn so much and find it a lot easier to lose fat if you read about diet, and exercise, etc. The more you know the better, faster, and healthier your fat loss will be.
10This applies to any kind of weight training: Always get two or more non-to-slightly bias opinions that agree with the first one after someone tells you something. Because the biggest guy in the gym or the guy who lost the most weight doesn?t automatically know the most. This applies for me also.
11If you really want to lose fat as fast as possible, eat nothing with white sugar, drink nothing with white sugar, and LOOK at nothing with white sugar(this really is not relevant, it just helps with the temptation )
12Carbs need to be eaten in order to lose fat without killing yourself. (your probably won?t die?)
13The best fat-burning supplement to achieve your goal is not a fat-burning supplement at all... it's two words; HARD WORK. These two words put into action put all other supplements to shame
14Although it may take long, the feeling you have after losing fat is the most humbling and yet the greatest feeling you will have...it is soooo worth it, so keep pushing on.
15Eat breakfast, PERIOD.
16Your calorie intake should be dependant on how much you weigh. There is a couple good calculators on BB.com, but you have to find a good average that applies to your body.
17Never eat when your hungry, or not eat when your not hungry. In other words, don?t let your stomach control what goes into your body. Schedule your meals, and know exactly what and how much you are putting into your body, along with how much exercise you will do for that day.
18You have to eat in order to lose fat. Anorexia or bulimia is NOT an option.
19Don?t over do it on the cardio, let your mind and body work together, if your body says I cant go anymore, let your mind argue otherwise, and keep going accordingly, but don?t be insane about it. Pushing yourself past the highest limits is for those who want to increase their endurance of pain, such as sports players, your just trying to lose fat, don?t push your body past it's limit, or fat wont be the only thing you lose.
20On the other hand, keep in mind that your body's limit is a fraction of what it's really capable of, but DONT over work it.
21Fat is universal. Everybody has it, some more than others. DO NOT compare yourself with someone else, and make decisions upon that comparison.
22Lifting weights is a huge part of fat loss. Just remember that your trying to lose fat, and minimize muscle loss, not gain both.
23HIIT is not for the faint of heart, but for those who CAN do it, SHOULD do it. If you can?t jog then sprint consistently, then speed walk and jog, it?s the same thing, just not as intense.
24Take the word ?diet? as a verb out of your vocabulary. You are not, and never will be on a ?diet?, it is your way of life.
25Fat loss does not happen right away. Depending on how much fat you have, you may lose more or less during a period of time.
26Unless you are morbidly obese, don?t plan on losing 5 lbs a week. The slower you lose, the harder it will be to gain back.
27There ARE such things as plateaus in fat loss. I went through one for a month and a half.

For more help, just ask me anything. If you need clarification on a tip, ask, ill explain. There?s tons of links that I know of if you want more info on something. My AIM is DougRHersh, IM me if you want to talk. I will post more tips at times. Again, feel free to ask any questions.

[jcosley]

Repped!!! Awesome Job!

[blazingbay]

This thread needs a bump, Very inspiring and useful info

[HisMajestyRides]

Awesome post, I'm glad I read it. I'm sorta in the same boat you were in, though it's not so much spontaneous that I've decided but more like I've finally decided that I AM going to do it.

I'm 6'5 and weigh between 330 and 335 right now and am trying to read as much on nutrition as I can. I'm going to be doing the Starting Strength program and the only thing I have left really is planning my diet. I'm planning on running/jogging 3 miles a day, 2 in the morning 1 in the evening and if that's easy enough work up to 5 a day, 3 in the morning and 2 in the evening.

My question are, did you have a specific carb, protein, fat ratio?

What formula worked for you when calculating your daily calorie needs and how much of a deficit did you make?

When measuring your success, did you just got by the scale and what you saw or did you measure body fat percentage?

Thanks for the awesome thread.

[xdougyx]

Thanks for the bump blazing

Awesome post, I'm glad I read it. I'm sorta in the same boat you were in, though it's not so much spontaneous that I've decided but more like I've finally decided that I AM going to do it.

I'm 6'5 and weigh between 330 and 335 right now and am trying to read as much on nutrition as I can. I'm going to be doing the Starting Strength program and the only thing I have left really is planning my diet. I'm planning on running/jogging 3 miles a day, 2 in the morning 1 in the evening and if that's easy enough work up to 5 a day, 3 in the morning and 2 in the evening.

My question are, did you have a specific carb, protein, fat ratio?

What formula worked for you when calculating your daily calorie needs and how much of a deficit did you make?

When measuring your success, did you just got by the scale and what you saw or did you measure body fat percentage?

Thanks for the awesome thread.

1. No, i didn't, and i probaly should have. What i did was trial and error. Although i would suggest keeping an accound of how much fat, carbs, and protein you take in, after a while, you get to know which foods have what, and can kindof keep track in your head. Try to eat according to what exercise you HAVE done...Not what you say you will do. Remeber that your metabolism is sped up right after cadio, so eat the most bad food after that and as early in the day as possible. If you want to have a Pro, Carb, and fat ratio, remember that 1 carb= 4 calories, 1 protein =4 Cal, and 1 fat=9 cal. This will help you. Just eat the GOOD carbs, proteins and fats, and know the differences. If you want help on this, i CAN explain, but there are also plenty of articles i can point out to you.
2. Like i said in the first answer, i didn't really have a formula, but i did work off of my daily calorie need, heres a good link to find out your BMR (basil Metabolic rate)
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm
I dont quite know what deficit i made, but according to my weight, i kept my caloric intake around 1800-2100, at times, less. For you, it would be quite a bit more. Try finding out what youre body burns a day, and then take a deficit of about 300-700 calories out. Heres another useful calculator you can use for this:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutcal.htm

3. I looked in the mirror, mostly went by the scale, and monitored my lifting stats to make sure my muscle didnt go down much. Later on, i bought calipers, but at this time i dont find it as useful as the scale. I think the best way is to take a picture before to compare to, monitor your lifts, and weigh yourself. But dont overate the scale. Just because you didnt lose pounds dosen't mean you didn't lose fat.

Hopefully that will help, sorry for the long post, i just like to give out as much info as possible.
Ask some more i didnt answer your question!

[janky]

good stuff man. congrats! I was in the same boat.
I'm down to about 13% body fat now, and its all in my spare tire gut. It's frustrating beyond belief cause the rest of me looks pretty good.
I struggle w my nutrition sometimes but when i put my mind to it I'm on point.
I feel like I'm hitting a plateau in weight loss because my stupid gut never seems to change.
any advice?

[xdougyx]

good stuff man. congrats! I was in the same boat.
I'm down to about 13% body fat now, and its all in my spare tire gut. It's frustrating beyond belief cause the rest of me looks pretty good.
I struggle w my nutrition sometimes but when i put my mind to it I'm on point.
I feel like I'm hitting a plateau in weight loss because my stupid gut never seems to change.
any advice?

Ah yes...the dreaded fat loss plateau...
Well, with a bit of stomach fat like you have, you will have to start doing some hardcore core workouts for one. Second, depending on how clean you eat, i suggest either going on a splurge of lots and lots of good food in order to re jump-start your metabolism, or cut back on food for just a couple days. Universaly for any kind of plateau, doing anything different is what you have to do to break it...its just how different it is. You might have to experiment. I find that since i eat pretty clean, that on one day, ill go extreme, and eat pretty dirty, and this doesn't effect my fat loss at all, since i boost my cardio for the day also.
If your finding these things to not work, i would suggest some supplements to kind of help tear off the fat that your body seems to want to hold on to. Dont go too crazy with it, and research everything before you buy any supp. In two weeks, i will be going on an animal cuts and green mag stack, and possibly BCAAs also. I, too seem to have a hard time losing fat consistently now, one because i rolled my ankle, had a back injury, and right after that healed, i hurt both shoulders, and two, because im starting to get to that fat that i've had since i was 9 or 10...Thats the stuff thats harder to lose.
Hope that helps...Some of that stomach "hangover" may be extra skin also, have you checked that out?
If i didn't help, please say so, and ask.

[bigvdl]

Wow those are some of the best tips i'v seen on this site!
Repped, awsome thread

[xdougyx]

Wow those are some of the best tips i'v seen on this site!
Repped, awsome thread

Thanks, it took me quite a while to learn this stuff, through trial and error i am proud of what i know, but want so much to share it with other people in my same situation, and continue to gain more knowledge.

[BigRed1992]

is this a good diet to lose 20 pounds of fat and keep most of my muscle i will get my cardio from summer football practice and i will done some HITT by myself after practice 3x's a week this diet is meant to be a clean bulk.......but i have another idea of just going on the anabolic diet to lose body fat

height:5'09
weight:225
body fat:25-23

here the clean bulk diet

meal 1:

4 eggs broiled/1 cup of oats

meal 2:

a lettuce salad with a side of turkey or chopped ham with fat free dressing

Meal 3:

8 oz chicken or steak with 1cup of white rice and 2 cups of broccoli

Meal 4:

a natural peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread

Meal:5

1 cup of oats

[xdougyx]

is this a good diet to lose 20 pounds of fat and keep most of my muscle i will get my cardio from summer football practice and i will done some HITT by myself after practice 3x's a week this diet is meant to be a clean bulk.......but i have another idea of just going on the anabolic diet to lose body fat

height:5'09
weight:225
body fat:25-23

here the clean bulk diet

meal 1:

4 eggs broiled/1 cup of oats

meal 2:

a lettuce salad with a side of turkey or chopped ham with fat free dressing

Meal 3:

8 oz chicken or steak with 1cup of white rice and 2 cups of broccoli

Meal 4:

a natural peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread

Meal:5

1 cup of oats

Sounds good, but if youre going on a clean bulk, youre going to have to eat more...estimated, that diet has between 1100 and 1300 calories....That not enough for you at youre height and weight to bulk, especially with football, youre gonna end up passed out on the field bro.
Especially with football, try emphasising the carbs anytime before about an hour or so before practise. This will give you the energy you need without going to your storage bins (fat).
With football, youre gonna be deducting most of the calories most of us would with diet, so try to stay on the high side with calories...From the info youve given me, that would be around 2500-2800, but experiement with it. If you cant eat that much, then slowly build youre stomach up to be able to handle it, and if you feel your are beginning to gain fat because of it, just lower the cals by a couple hundred.
Lastly, especially on bulking, take in LOTS and LOTS of protein, drink a ton of water, and lose all the junk food. i dont know really how much fat you have versus muscle, but since you play football, then id say you have quite a bit of muscle already. What position do you play?

[TonicWater]

This is a very good thread.

[Tobey77]

2It's not as important how much you eat it as to WHEN you eat it.

Repped for a good job, tho i stopped reading this. You are actually saying its ok to eat 5000kcal a day, as long as you eat on the right times?

[BigRed1992]

Sounds good, but if youre going on a clean bulk, youre going to have to eat more...estimated, that diet has between 1100 and 1300 calories....That not enough for you at youre height and weight to bulk, especially with football, youre gonna end up passed out on the field bro.
Especially with football, try emphasising the carbs anytime before about an hour or so before practise. This will give you the energy you need without going to your storage bins (fat).
With football, youre gonna be deducting most of the calories most of us would with diet, so try to stay on the high side with calories...From the info youve given me, that would be around 2500-2800, but experiement with it. If you cant eat that much, then slowly build youre stomach up to be able to handle it, and if you feel your are beginning to gain fat because of it, just lower the cals by a couple hundred.
Lastly, especially on bulking, take in LOTS and LOTS of protein, drink a ton of water, and lose all the junk food. i dont know really how much fat you have versus muscle, but since you play football, then id say you have quite a bit of muscle already. What position do you play?

i play DE/DT.......but my coach put me at linebacker before and he said i have the natural instinct to play the position because by aggressiveness and good tackling ability and he told me i naturally fast for my weight and if i lose those pounds i will be able to stay with wide receivers more easily he told me if i get down to about 200 or 205 that i will more than likely start at linebacker so i guess i want lose weight to play linebacker.......but i don't know if i should just do a cut or just do a clean bulk

[Crackfest]

Well done my friend. Hats off to you. Good job on losing the weight. Great inspiration. I think I will go workout now.

[BuckSpin]

A lot of very good, practical, no nonsense info there. You & I went about our drops a bit differently but I was practicing almost all of what you mention.

[straight6]

Hi, my situation is a bit different. I am 5'11" and weigh 174 lbs. I am not very broad or big built, more of a athletic build(will try and post pics later). I am currently on a mass gaining mission or should I say I want to build muscles. The problem is that I have fat on my tummy that annoys me like hell and want to get rid of. What do you suggest? I haven't started cardio yet because I'm trying to gain mass and have been working out since the last 2 months after almost a 3 year gap. I currently use Optimum creatine monohydrate and their 100% whey. Is it possible to lose the flab on my abs and still continue to gain muscle? I have very fast metabolism like most hardgainers.

[TheJosh]

Nice thread, just wish it was formated so it was readable.

[xdougyx]

Tobey77 - Depends on how tall and big you are...if youre 7'5, 320, then Yes!!!, eat 5000 cal a day....but i doubt thats youre case. Notice how i said it is not AS important...meaning it still is.

i play DE/DT.......but my coach put me at linebacker before and he said i have the natural instinct to play the position because by aggressiveness and good tackling ability and he told me i naturally fast for my weight and if i lose those pounds i will be able to stay with wide receivers more easily he told me if i get down to about 200 or 205 that i will more than likely start at linebacker so i guess i want lose weight to play linebacker.......but i don't know if i should just do a cut or just do a clean bulk

I'd advize you to just do an "anabolic bulk" meaning still lift your hardest, but do alot of cardio, and eat very, very clean. So since you play football, id say a clean bulk. Pics would help though.

Hi, my situation is a bit different. I am 5'11" and weigh 174 lbs. I am not very broad or big built, more of a athletic build(will try and post pics later). I am currently on a mass gaining mission or should I say I want to build muscles. The problem is that I have fat on my tummy that annoys me like hell and want to get rid of. What do you suggest? I haven't started cardio yet because I'm trying to gain mass and have been working out since the last 2 months after almost a 3 year gap. I currently use Optimum creatine monohydrate and their 100% whey. Is it possible to lose the flab on my abs and still continue to gain muscle? I have very fast metabolism like most hardgainers.

Cardio is a big factor in your case. Gut fat is the most hardest fat to get off, but with an extremely clean diet, even drinks(no beer, sodas, etc.), a good amount of cardio and lifting, you should be able to get most of it off. Do alot of core (abs, lower back, obliques) exercises. If this dosen't seem to work, then maybe you need to start taking a thermogenic fat burner to aid you with the rest of the diet and exercise. If youre under 18, i wouldnt advise it, though. The gut-fat loss may come slower than the rest, but keep workin at it, and youll have a flat stomach by no time.
And yes, it is possible to lose the flab, but your muscle gain will be less since you will be doing quite a bit more cardio.

Nice thread, just wish it was formated so it was readable.

I've been meaning to edit it, but this stupid forum dosen't accept certain microsoft word symbols...so ill have to do it manually.

[TheJosh]

Ahh you copied it from Word? That makes sense, word is a bitch.

[straight6]

Should I just start doing cardio 2 times a week and see how it works? I was about to start taking NO-Xplode which I had bought earlier but didn't take it as I wanted to use it as a plateau buster later. Oh, by the way, I'm a non-alcoholic and I even hate soda's. Another thing is that I haven't started Squats yet since I'm coming back after a lay off. Those help in burning fat too.

[bmzp]

First of all: Congratulations for both effort and results!

I have a sort of question, maybe you can help me out

Do you think I can develop an efficient diet based on fruit (strawberries, apples, oranges, pears and a banana now and then) and grilled chicken/turkey?

Something like this:

07:20 - a bowl of cornflakes with hazelnuts plus Optimum protein shake.
10:30 - fruit salad (handful)
13:00 - grilled chicken + small amount of white rice
16:00 - fruit salad (handful)
19:00 - cycling (3 or 4 times a week) or weight lifting (2 to 3 times)
20:30 - protein shake + veggie soup + grilled chicken

Will I be eating enough carbs thru fruits? I'm trying to avoid too many carbs.
I really hate green vegetables and this would be a way to maintain a diet without always wishing to quit.

Other info: 20% BF (evendough I have lean legs), 171lbs, accumulated fat on the belly basically, drink around 2,5 liters of water per day, drink 2 expresso per day with 4 grams of sugar in each one,try not to eat carbs after 19...etc)

What's your personal opinion? What do you think I sould alter in order to start loosing fat around my torso?

I looked up on several articles here at bb.com but i really need help with some specific situations...

I'd really appreciate your help!

Congrats from Portugal

[Friend-O-hai]

Thanks for taking the time to write it out!

[forcasa]

Should I just start doing cardio 2 times a week and see how it works? I was about to start taking NO-Xplode which I had bought earlier but didn't take it as I wanted to use it as a plateau buster later. Oh, by the way, I'm a non-alcoholic and I even hate soda's. Another thing is that I haven't started Squats yet since I'm coming back after a lay off. Those help in burning fat too.

understand that when bulking as an ecto a growing stomach is inevitable an unavoidable. just let it go and keep bulking - it will come right off once you cut hard.

if you want to go the route of very slow muscle gain by keeping the diet ultra clean and eating perfectly and lifting hard then you may see a small decrease in your gut size while making ultra slow gains, but this method makes me very impatient personally

[Basil08]

A LOT of that information is invalid and misleading. Please research what your saying before giving advice like this to others. If you'd like i can help you revise that and provide factual proof as to why it may not be the most optimal advice to post.

[xdougyx]

Should I just start doing cardio 2 times a week and see how it works? I was about to start taking NO-Xplode which I had bought earlier but didn't take it as I wanted to use it as a plateau buster later. Oh, by the way, I'm a non-alcoholic and I even hate soda's. Another thing is that I haven't started Squats yet since I'm coming back after a lay off. Those help in burning fat too.

Forcasa makes a good point, and i cant tell you as to which option will work the best, but a little cardio is good, especially if you are trying to lose fat, just dont do too much. If you haven't done cardio before, you can start now, yes, and see how it goes. Up the intensity or amount of time you do it if you don't think its helping much.

First of all: Congratulations for both effort and results!

I have a sort of question, maybe you can help me out

Do you think I can develop an efficient diet based on fruit (strawberries, apples, oranges, pears and a banana now and then) and grilled chicken/turkey?

Something like this:

07:20 - a bowl of cornflakes with hazelnuts plus Optimum protein shake.
10:30 - fruit salad (handful)
13:00 - grilled chicken + small amount of white rice
16:00 - fruit salad (handful)
19:00 - cycling (3 or 4 times a week) or weight lifting (2 to 3 times)
20:30 - protein shake + veggie soup + grilled chicken

Will I be eating enough carbs thru fruits? I'm trying to avoid too many carbs.
I really hate green vegetables and this would be a way to maintain a diet without always wishing to quit.

Other info: 20% BF (evendough I have lean legs), 171lbs, accumulated fat on the belly basically, drink around 2,5 liters of water per day, drink 2 expresso per day with 4 grams of sugar in each one,try not to eat carbs after 19...etc)

What's your personal opinion? What do you think I sould alter in order to start loosing fat around my torso?

I looked up on several articles here at bb.com but i really need help with some specific situations...

I'd really appreciate your help!

Congrats from Portugal

I would not advise you to eat lots of fruits. Fruits are a good source of sugar called fructose, and if you eat too much, you might as well eat regular white sugar. Two servings of fruit is all you really need in a daytime, such as 1 banana and 1 apple, ect. Base your diet upon protein. Lots of good proteins such as chicken, fish, and other white meats. Red meats are also good for you but have alot of other junk too. Eat what veggies you like, and lots of them. You should be fine with that. Theres plenty of foods out there that are good for you besides green vegetables. As far as your posted diet looks, you have most of that down pretty well, just sumstitute one of the fruit servings for, say peanutbutter and crackers, or cottage cheese.

A LOT of that information is invalid and misleading. Please research what your saying before giving advice like this to others. If you'd like i can help you revise that and provide factual proof as to why it may not be the most optimal advice to post.

I HAVE researched what iam saying...it took me almost a year to learn these things, and i am still learning. I try hard not to type anything that i dont already know for fact, and if i do, then it is a simple mistake. Pleased provide your factual proof if you disagree, and please be encouraged to help in providing help to those who need it if you feel obligated.

[Basil08]

1There are two major ingredients to the recipe of fat loss; Diet and exercise. You cannot achieve good fat loss without both. You can only lose so much with one or the other.
2It's not as important how much you eat it as to WHEN you eat it.

Incorrect. They both matter. If you manage to macro manipulate your dietary intake accordingly (in regards to meal timing i.e. PWO intake of dextrose (sugar)) they may work in synergy with one another to produce the most optimal result using the same caloric intake. ref - "Nutrient Timing"

3In order to lose fat without also losing muscle, it's going to take a heck of a longer time than if you lost both...Go with the first option, it's more healthier.
4Cheat days actually help you to lose weight. Research this, ask me more, or just try it if you don?t believe me

Cheat days do nothing but satisfy your mental strain of dieting. In order to increase the metabolism via a "cheat days" you must have those cheat days back to back for a serious composing of a week or more. Leptin, T4, T3, and even insulin sensitivity (secretion of insulin via the pancreas accordingly by level of blood glucose) take this amount of time or greater in order to be "amped up". Eat at maintenance or 10% above for the time period to achieve this desired effect.

5In order to lose fat, you have eat to less more often. At least every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism up and running all day.

contrary to popular belief, increasing meals is a myth in pertaining aspects of thermogenic caloric expenditure. The advantages increased meals produce are those such as positive nitrogen balance (insured at least), and stable blood glucose levels which may prevent unnecessary hunger pains

6DO NOT eat any CARBS 3-4 hours before you go to bed; i.e.- you go to bed at 10; don?t eat any carbs after 7.

this wives tail must be stopped. Perhaps i workout at 7 and sleep ate 10. should i not include any carbs PWO? this is ludicrous at best. Consumption of carbohydrates should be personalized according to the individuals preferences and needs. Secondly, pay attention to the laws of thermodynamics. In order to lose "weight" Caloric intake must be exceeded by caloric expenditure.


7If you absolutely have to eat junk food, eat it as early in the day as possible, so your body has a longer period of time to burn it.

I prefer to eat my junk at the end of the day, to prevent further cheating. Secondly, Caloric intake over timing.


8It's not possible to lose weight healthily without eating a good breakfast?EAT IT and shut up
9Read, read, read. You will learn so much and find it a lot easier to lose fat if you read about diet, and exercise, etc. The more you know the better, faster, and healthier your fat loss will be.
10This applies to any kind of weight training: Always get two or more non-to-slightly bias opinions that agree with the first one after someone tells you something. Because the biggest guy in the gym or the guy who lost the most weight doesn?t automatically know the most. This applies for me also.
11If you really want to lose fat as fast as possible, eat nothing with white sugar, drink nothing with white sugar, and LOOK at nothing with white sugar(this really is not relevant, it just helps with the temptation )

Excluding time PWO, i would agree here

12Carbs need to be eaten in order to lose fat without killing yourself. (your probably won?t die?)

Carbohydrates are not necessary. Only fats and proteins are. Your body can function normally without them via energy pathways produced by the Krebs cycle utilizing ketone bodies for fuel.

13The best fat-burning supplement to achieve your goal is not a fat-burning supplement at all... it's two words; HARD WORK. These two words put into action put all other supplements to shame
14Although it may take long, the feeling you have after losing fat is the most humbling and yet the greatest feeling you will have...it is soooo worth it, so keep pushing on.
15Eat breakfast, PERIOD.
16Your calorie intake should be dependant on how much you weigh. There is a couple good calculators on BB.com, but you have to find a good average that applies to your body.
17Never eat when your hungry, or not eat when your not hungry. In other words, don?t let your stomach control what goes into your body. Schedule your meals, and know exactly what and how much you are putting into your body, along with how much exercise you will do for that day.

I'm implied to disagree here as well. Hunger is produced for 2 main reasons. You are either in need of energy or vitamins/minerals. Listen to your body, eat slowly however. It takes around 15 minutes for your brain to receive signals of satiety from caloric surplus or the stretching of the stomach walls.

18You have to eat in order to lose fat. Anorexia or bulimia is NOT an option.
19Don?t over do it on the cardio, let your mind and body work together, if your body says I cant go anymore, let your mind argue otherwise, and keep going accordingly, but don?t be insane about it. Pushing yourself past the highest limits is for those who want to increase their endurance of pain, such as sports players, your just trying to lose fat, don?t push your body past it's limit, or fat wont be the only thing you lose.
20On the other hand, keep in mind that your body's limit is a fraction of what it's really capable of, but DONT over work it.
21Fat is universal. Everybody has it, some more than others. DO NOT compare yourself with someone else, and make decisions upon that comparison.
22Lifting weights is a huge part of fat loss. Just remember that your trying to lose fat, and minimize muscle loss, not gain both.
23HIIT is not for the faint of heart, but for those who CAN do it, SHOULD do it. If you can?t jog then sprint consistently, then speed walk and jog, it?s the same thing, just not as intense.

why "SHOULD" i do HIIT? there are plenty of other ways to elevate Heart Rate without producing so much strain on the joints.

24Take the word ?diet? as a verb out of your vocabulary. You are not, and never will be on a ?diet?, it is your way of life.

Exactly, your way of life. The word diet means nothing other than "way of eating". Only when all these fad diets came out did the term seem to become mistaken with drastic starvation.

25Fat loss does not happen right away. Depending on how much fat you have, you may lose more or less during a period of time.
26Unless you are morbidly obese, don?t plan on losing 5 lbs a week. The slower you lose, the harder it will be to gain back.
27There ARE such things as plateaus in fat loss. I went through one for a month and a half.

Once you hit a plateau, change something up. You can resume fat burning immediately as long as you produce another circumstance were the body receives another adaptive response.

For more help, just ask me anything. If you need clarification on a tip, ask, ill explain. There?s tons of links that I know of if you want more info on something. My AIM is DougRHersh, IM me if you want to talk. I will post more tips at times. Again, feel free to ask any questions.

My replies are in bold. References will be provided if needed.

[Basil08]

Listen, i'me not trying to bring your thread down, i just want people to be properly informed. Ive been through my fair share (much much worse than yours) and i've logged more hours than i can remember studying nutrition supplementation exercise etc... It's not meant to be personal, i'm just utilizing this forum for what it's for, helping others and sharing valuable information

[xdougyx]

My replies are in bold. References will be provided if needed.

well done...You obviously have either studied nutrition is college, or have had quite a bit of time on your hands to simply...READ.
While i agree with the statements you made, these all have worked for me, and i WILL need some clarification for not only me, but other in certain areas:

1There are two major ingredients to the recipe of fat loss; Diet and exercise. You cannot achieve good fat loss without both. You can only lose so much with one or the other.
2It's not as important how much you eat it as to WHEN you eat it.

Incorrect. They both matter. If you manage to macro manipulate your dietary intake accordingly (in regards to meal timing i.e. PWO intake of dextrose (sugar)) they may work in synergy with one another to produce the most optimal result using the same caloric intake. ref - "Nutrient Timing".

I said Not AS important. In no way did i mean that one of the two are not important, but that one exceeds in importance. Time is everything when you eat.

4Cheat days actually help you to lose weight. Research this, ask me more, or just try it if you don?t believe me

Cheat days do nothing but satisfy your mental strain of dieting. In order to increase the metabolism via a "cheat days" you must have those cheat days back to back for a serious composing of a week or more. Leptin, T4, T3, and even insulin sensitivity (secretion of insulin via the pancreas accordingly by level of blood glucose) take this amount of time or greater in order to be "amped up". Eat at maintenance or 10% above for the time period to achieve this desired effect.

Cheat days, (meaning eating something you would not normally eat on your regualr diet) are a CHANGE. You mention something later about change when you hit a plateau. In my experience, and watching others, doing something out of the ordinary for a short period of time can greatly help you out, and if not done too often, will definatley not set you back in your fat loss.

5In order to lose fat, you have eat to less more often. At least every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism up and running all day.

contrary to popular belief, increasing meals is a myth in pertaining aspects of thermogenic caloric expenditure. The advantages increased meals produce are those such as positive nitrogen balance (insured at least), and stable blood glucose levels which may prevent unnecessary hunger pains.

You proved my point greatly. If you eat often, you wont get hungry at unnecessary times by leveling your metabolism. If you dont eat, your metabolism drops and if you eat too much, it does the same thing (provided you are habitual about it)

6DO NOT eat any CARBS 3-4 hours before you go to bed; i.e.- you go to bed at 10; don?t eat any carbs after 7.

this wives tail must be stopped. Perhaps i workout at 7 and sleep ate 10. should i not include any carbs PWO? this is ludicrous at best. Consumption of carbohydrates should be personalized according to the individuals preferences and needs. Secondly, pay attention to the laws of thermodynamics. In order to lose "weight" Caloric intake must be exceeded by caloric expenditure..

Absolutly eat good carbs after you work out(at best, simple carbs so your protein can get to your body fast), but for someone who is overweight, carbs are in no need for someone about to go to bed, and not burn them off.

7If you absolutely have to eat junk food, eat it as early in the day as possible, so your body has a longer period of time to burn it.

I prefer to eat my junk at the end of the day, to prevent further cheating. Secondly, Caloric intake over timing.

How do you know you wont eat junk food earlier in the day if you have to do it at night? This is where self discipline plays in again. if you are serious about losing fat at your best potential, then junk food should be cut out all the time, unless you dedicate a day to cheat.

12Carbs need to be eaten in order to lose fat without killing yourself. (your probably won?t die?)

Carbohydrates are not necessary. Only fats and proteins are. Your body can function normally without them via energy pathways produced by the Krebs cycle utilizing ketone bodies for fuel.

You can rant and rave over the atkins diet, keto, and other zero-carb diets, but one, how much harder is it to eat if you cant eat any carbs? and two, especially if you workout hard, carbs SHOULD be eaten. It would be hard to get the amount of energy from fats and protein that you do good carbs.

[xdougyx]

I'm implied to disagree here as well. Hunger is produced for 2 main reasons. You are either in need of energy or vitamins/minerals. Listen to your body, eat slowly however. It takes around 15 minutes for your brain to receive signals of satiety from caloric surplus or the stretching of the stomach walls.

----Hunger should be controlled. Alot who are overweight are because of eating too much, bad food, etc. This is why i posted this tip, because it should be learned that you should schedule your meals ahead of time so that you do not eat when your body dosen't really need it. As long as you know what youve taken in, and what should be taken in, then hunger is only a small tool in knowing what to put in your body.

why "SHOULD" i do HIIT? there are plenty of other ways to elevate Heart Rate without producing so much strain on the joints.

----Huh? you are saying exactly what i touched on.

I understand that you just want to clarify that which ive missed or wrongly portrayed, and please do, but what i know is little compared to what there is to know, and i am only sharing my knowledge with others. Thanks for your help.
*REPS*