What are you doing to lose fat?

[TheCaptain]

All of us are doing some sort of diet and exercise program. Some of us have achieved our ultimate goals why others fail after the first week or two.

I am interested in learning about what everyone else is doing to lose weight. No Hype, just straight facts of what they are finding the most success following and how much they have lost.

Anyone want to share their fat loss plan?

[Chris187]

I think the main thing is no matter what your "plan" is to just stick with it. If you go from eating junk all the time and then go to eating chicken breasts and tuna you are going to crash. I think that is the reason why people fail after the first week or so.

I just try and take it one day at a time...make healthy choices everyday and make sure I exercise.

[apdunshiz]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=6652981


look here...this is what i know

[TheCaptain]

I think the main thing is no matter what your "plan" is to just stick with it. If you go from eating junk all the time and then go to eating chicken breasts and tuna you are going to crash. I think that is the reason why people fail after the first week or so.

I just try and take it one day at a time...make healthy choices everyday and make sure I exercise.

Unfortunately, i get all caught up in the hype. I mean do i count calories, count portions, weigh food, do cardio in morning, do cardio before bedtime, weight train daily, full body workout versus 4 day cycle, precor versus running, protein shakes versus food, steamed veggies versus raw veggies, low fat versus low carb etc. etc.

Yeah, i have lost lots of bodyfat and gained muscle mass on every one of these combinations. But, I havent been able to stick with it long term.

Lets face it, i like convenience and i like ice cream and i like fast food. I like playing computer games all day long and the last thing i want to do after work or school is go exercise. But, I also recognize that i achieve my greatest life ambitions when i am leaner. I am more confident and I become more determined after i achieved such a major goal like getting lean.

[Hoju]

*I eat what I want in small portions
*No carbs after 6pm so ussually meat and salad
*go to the gym 6 days a week 3 cardio - 3 weight training
*doing elliptical machines 35min and treadmill low speedie 3 mph max incline 30 mins 5 min decline 6 or more MPH
*Taking EC Stack and green tea also regular animal pak.
*Drink like 10-15 glasses of water (8 oz each)

Basically I'm trying to get in the grove of staying fit. right now I have to go to the gym at least 6 days a week, if I don't I feel weird(feels nice though). in fact I need to post my exercise regiment so it can get critiqued. Later on I'm going to try to structure my Diet so that it's more planned out.

[RusnConcussion]

clean diet with about a 50p/30f/20c split and caloric defecit, 1 hr of 80% HR cardio 4-5x a week, and weight training 4x a week.

+

1gallon of water and 3-4 cups green tea 1daily + multi

[mridgley]

Currently eating 6 times a day. I am being extremely cautious about what I eat. I have completely cut the cheat 'Meals' and have my carbohydrate intake before 3PM. I have not missed a day at the gym in roughly 3 months. Day's meaning my current 6 day regimen. Started using water in my protein shakes instead of FF milk. Added compound lifts to my workout. Added full body workouts. Added ‘High Rep’ workouts.

I am back to loosing 2 lbs a week.

I believe that I am loosing weight again is NOT because I changed 1 or 2 things but rather re-mixed my whole regimen.

[phil b]

currently cutting, no more bulks for me, almost 38 years old, happy with muscle mass. Cals around2500-2600 I have to do cardio 5x week, cut carbs 5-6pm, I am currently experimenting with cycling carb intake, not enough time to make a decision on its effectiveness. Added the ECA stack, have used it before with good results. its helping sweat/energy, and am down 12 lbs in less than 2 months, not done yet.

- " I don't know, thyroid problem?" - Arnold's response to a woman after reading her shirt with GUESS written on it.

[Tobey77]

Im doin something that i know works for me, which is imo whats most important. I cut for 3-4 days, i usually loose 3-4lbs in those days alone, i dont ever starve myself but i eat right and exercise. Then for 1-2 days i slack, i eat more, but still healthy and gain perhaps 1-2lbs to reset my body. Then i redo, this has worked great for the last 80lbs or so.

Tho, once i get lower and lower this will be harder to maintain, i will have to step up cardio and start doin weights. Also i need to follow a more strict diet plan eventually.

[Norse]

I eat clean, dunno the calories as I don't count them, but they can't be very high. I eat a subway chicken breast sub for lunch or a Burger King grilled chicken breast sandwich. I do 45 mins of heavy lifting followed by 30-45 mins of cardio (no set cardio plan, sometimes I do HIIT, sometimes I just walk fast, some times I do the cycles). I took an EC stack for about 3-4 weeks and Hydroxycut Hardcore for a week before that. I'm down in the 220's from 255 and my waist has lost close to 5.5 inches. There are no signs of plateauing yet.

About 2 days ago I cut out 80% of the carbs I was eating and I'm now noticing accelerated weight loss, but this could be the little bit of water weight I had left over. My love handles are noticeably smaller as well as my man-tits. A lot more muscle is now visible. I'm gonna stay off the carbs until mid Feb and see where it takes me.

[AlexMR]

All of us are doing some sort of diet and exercise program. Some of us have achieved our ultimate goals why others fail after the first week or two.

I am interested in learning about what everyone else is doing to lose weight. No Hype, just straight facts of what they are finding the most success following and how much they have lost.

Anyone want to share their fat loss plan?

64pounds loss so far. No complicated tricks or anything. A deficit of calories and a lot of attention to get enough protein everyday (one gram per pound of bodyweight have been more than enough to build a good 2-2.5pounds of LBM every month for the past 5months).

At the beginning it was really easy. I just had to be on caloric deficit and i could see results. Lately, i need to be aware of what i eat mostly. This basically means that everytime i get a lot of calories from sugars (say I had a sundae from BR, 800calories of sugar mostly) i wont lose any fat that day even if i have a 500+calories deficit.

[IH8CARDIO]

Nothing fancy. Hard training, clean eating, and cardio here and there.

Here's what's working for me, I'll try to be brief though...

WORKOUT:
4-day split. Two days upper and two days lower. Two days heavy weight/lower reps and two days a bit lighter weight/higher reps. (Similar to Westside or DeFranco's WS4SB.) Mostly emphasizing compound lifts but there are some curls in there too.

DIET:
Again, nothing fancy. I've done plenty of carb cycling routines, low-carb-with-refeeds, etc. but these days it's fairly basic. I find this works best for me and helps me stay consistent longer.

Pretty much keeping protein intake high, carbs are not low but they're not too high, fats are moderate. Close to a 40-40-20, but maybe closer to 45-35-20. Carbs are coming mostly at three meals: breakfast, preworkout, postworkout. Other meals are protein+fat+veggies, sometimes fruit too.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but off the top of my head here's a general layout:

M1: Protein powder, oats, fruit (usually grapefruit, orange, or strawberries).
M2: Chicken, almonds, veggies (usually broccoli, green beans, asparagus, collards, sometimes salad with oil/vinegar but in that case I remove the almonds).
M3: Similar to M2 but usually do something else instead of chicken like egg whites, tuna or other fish, sometimes turkey.
M4 (preworkout): Protein powder, oats.
M5 (postworkout): Either A) Protein powder, oats, milk, banana or B) similar ratios/nutrition facts from other whole-foods (chicken+potato+milk+banana, for example).
M6: Steak and veggies.

CARDIO:
I don't do a ton of cardio but I do throw in HIIT on non-weightlifting days a couple times a week. Usually 20-30 minutes of interval sprints, bike, hill sprints, elliptical, etc. Sometimes I'll skip rope as well.

SUPPLEMENTS:
Again, very basic. Protein powder, multivitamin, variety of oils (fish, flaxseed, etc.). My real supplements are steak, oatmeal, and milk.

[Araj]

Eat clean for the most part.
Drink allot of water
5-6 normal sized meals a day.
Lift 3-4x a week

Thats pretty much it.
Typical day is,
meal 1 4eggs on wheat bread
meal 2 protein shake with 1/2 to 1cup oats
meal 3 chicken breast and a sweet potato.
meal 4 some lean meat and brown rice
meal 5 protein shake or some lean meat
meal 6 cottage cheese or peanutbutter and milk

I pretty much eat some type of vegetable (maybe a salad somewhere) and maybe fruit with every non protein shake meal.

[jaytek80]

Two most effective things I do to lose fat are:
1) Use fitday.com and track my calories and macros. Even if I don't aim for any particular goal, I find it really helps to know what goes in my mouth. Also, by adding a 'cost' to each snack, it deeply reduces my chances of snacking. I already ate fairly clean and cooked for myself so no huge dietary changes were needed. I'm not even that anal about logging things. I eyeball portions and make guesses for substitutes. None the less, it still helps me out a tonne. I can tell when I'm not using it.

2) Watch Star Trek and ride an exercise bike. Just adding 40 minutes of low-medium intensity cardio a day is a huge change. I made a strict rule that if I'm in front of the tv and there's no friends with me, my ass is on my exercise bike. Downside is that from time to time I'll do over 2k calories in a day which is a bit too much.

These two things, plus going to the gym and lifting three times a week are all I need so far. It's worked, I've lost nearly 50lbs. I know with tighter controls, more supplements, a stricter more intense cardio regime I could lose more faster. But at the same time, life is meant to be enjoyed. I'm not hardcore and I don't think I ever will be. This works for me, and I plan to keep doing it for the foreseeable future.

[JesseStylex]

I just eat better foods small portions and do carido and lifting every week.


took me 3 weeks to go from 189 to 187 but it's working and im not starving or anything.

[Lewisboss77]

I've started keto, i also do weights 3-5 times a week and i walk every day and spend some time on my rowing machine each day. Hopefully it'll come together in the long run

[Saturnal]

-clean diet of 2400 cals/day on days I lift (40c/40p/20f). 6 meals total. only fibrous carbs eaten in the last meal.

-clean diet of 2000 cals/day on days I don't lift (30c/45p/25f). 6 meals total. only fibrous carbs eaten in the last 3 meals.

-3-day split lifting program performed 4 days/week

-morning cardio on recumbent cycle 40 min @ 65-70% MHR performed 5 days/week

-clean refeed day once every 3 weeks of 3650 cals (75c/20p/5f) consisting mostly of white bagels, waffles, and pretzels

-drink about 1.5 gallons of water per day

-supplements: a typical multi-vitamin, whey, and omega 3 oil

I lose about 2lbs/week on this program.

[BIGROC]

I lift for 3 days a week mainly compound exercies that work a lot of different muscles Squat, Deads, Millitary, Bent Rows, Dips, Pull-Ups, ABS. Morning Fasted Cardio 7 days/week. EC Stack, Whey, 6 meals a day. Starchy carbs in the form of OATS for breakfast and WW with lunch. Only Fiborous carbs after lunch. Fruit only pre/post workout. Protein/Fat meals or Protein/Carbs meals only. Animal Pak.

I don't count calories I just make sure to have protein with each meal and I fist size serving of fiborous carbs. No sugar. No candy. No Fast Food.

I allow myself to have 1 cheat day a week usually Sunday and I eat at maintenance but typically still try and stay healthy. The last meal on Sunday I usually will eat whatever I want with a small dessert.

[nightwolfz]

DNP ... yes I cheat, but I have so much of it would be a shame to not use

[DAVE987]

i used to be 280 lbs.....fat fat fat. now im 150 lbs.
for me what worked is running, walking, erercising everyday. cut/ count your calories, cut/ count your carb intake and stay the hell away from all of those bad foods. example: mayonaise (duhh), salad dressing( horrible for u), peanut butter....... and the list can go on for a loooooooong time.

[KowboysUp]

Fitday is huge, as was said when you know something will mess up your plan for the day you're much less likely to eat it.

Running 6x a week, sometimes as little as a mile, other times HIIT, just to keep active.

Carb cycling to keep things fresh and different.

EC should be here soon, hopefully that will help me with the last 11 or so pounds I have down to 210 from 221 today, these are the tough ones as I get into the mid teens and head towards 10%.

[Icedtea]

i used to be 280 lbs.....fat fat fat. now im 150 lbs.
for me what worked is running, walking, erercising everyday. cut/ count your calories, cut/ count your carb intake and stay the hell away from all of those bad foods. example: mayonaise (duhh), salad dressing( horrible for u), peanut butter....... and the list can go on for a loooooooong time.

Natural peanut butter is good for you in moderation, and you can easily find low cal salad dressings/mayo that are made with yogurt.

[TheCaptain]

Natural peanut butter is good for you in moderation, and you can easily find low cal salad dressings/mayo that are made with yogurt.

Ehh your better off eating almond butter or other nut-based butters. Peanut butter is nice for Keto and its cheap, but its not the healthier choice.

[TheCaptain]

i used to be 280 lbs.....fat fat fat. now im 150 lbs.
for me what worked is running, walking, erercising everyday. cut/ count your calories, cut/ count your carb intake and stay the hell away from all of those bad foods. example: mayonaise (duhh), salad dressing( horrible for u), peanut butter....... and the list can go on for a loooooooong time.

I think the greatest challenge we all have is finding out what the cause is that makes us fat. I know my cause has changed many times over the years.

When i was in high school i ate a lot of junk food, often eating an entire bag of potatoe chips in one sitting. And even though i played sports, i wasnt very physically active. That all changed when i started eating clean foods (chicken, rice, potatoe, veggies etc.) and doing moderate lifting and cardio.

My next phase ended up being too much processed foods (hot dogs, hamburgers and macroni and cheese etc.). Again, changed my diet, this time doing body for life and wallahh achieved my goals.

The next phase was eating too much tiramisu cake and ice cream. Got over that phase with a low carb diet.

My my current phase is never having time to cook and always eating out. While i might eat healthy foods, i eat in excess. For example, i was eating sushi, tuna subs, eggplant parm, pad thai and various wraps daily. But, this stuff was high in calories, my tuna sub was over 1900 calories and i ate two of them on some days! And when im home, i play video games all night long. So i need to go back to cooking my own foods and exercising regularly.

So you need to find your source for being overweight. Some its junk food, some its lack of exercise.

One thing i hate is how diet books generalize. They talk about switching fat stuff with healthy alternatives. Well that works for some americans. But, not for me. Ive been using molly mcbutter and PAM in place of butter ofr more than 15 years. I dont use salt, dont drink anything but water and green tea, dont use dressings, dont eat potatoe chips, dont eat candy. Havent done so in more than 15 years. Yet, i am not lean because i still eat healthy foods in excess and dont do the long exercises i used to! Thats my current challenge!

[Turbulence24]

I used to be a hardcore gamer and would hate exercising because I'd always rather be doing something else. I am a very goal-oriented person; I want everything I do to play some significance in my future. I asked myself what playing video games endlessly will do for me in the future, as opposed to getting in the best shape I possibly can. After coming to the conclusion that a future of greater self confidence and more chicks > carpal-tunnel and living in the World of Warcraft, my mindset changed completely. I have more fun lifting and working out than I do playing video games. For me now, video games are just ways to fill the time when I've already worked out that day or the day before. It's all mental.

[JesseStylex]

I do a EC Stack then have HIIT Sex.

works great.

[really_nice_guy]

Eating lower calories (less than 1800) and weight training to keep my muscle and lose the body fat.

[ShadyRensch]

I eat 3 meals, have 2 or 3 snacks in between, all healthy stuff, I got sick of the calorie counting.

Lift 6 days, cardio 3 days after lifting sessions.

Yup.

[TheCaptain]

Eating lower calories (less than 1800) and weight training to keep my muscle and lose the body fat.

How has that worked for you?

Isnt 1800 calories low?