Cant seem to get this right

Long story short, I have a broken arm. This limits me do to any lifting what so ever. I can only go as high as the weight of a can of soda. The problem I have been going through is that I am putting on a little weight because of this. Right now im running a ton (3 days a week/light jog and walk on off days) to try and lose what i put on. And to throw into the mix that I am trying to get a "six pack", its making this process alittle harder.

What I eat on a daily basis is usually this:

Wake up around 7-8ish Go to class til 12 without eating anything.
(Sometimes when I have time for breakfast I eat a bowl of cereal)


1230 Eat a tuna sandwich (half a can of tuna with 7 grain bread) and a baked potato and regular butter. Along with fruits (watermellon, ect)

230-3 very light stack (cut up tomato, something like that)

5-7 (whenever mom makes dinner) I usally have a general serving.
Usual meals fish, pasta, chicken, roast, and sometimes steak.

Now what I was told is I should be eating around 1000 calories a day, with my running/walking I should be able to lose weight. But I cant see this working. I also just read up about the HIIT program which I am going to start come Monday.


Sorry for the long post but I figured that I should explain as much as I could to get the best answer.
 
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You didn't give your age or gender, but since you live with Mom (Mum), I am assuming you are no older than your 20's. Regardless of your age or gender, 1000 calories is MAJOR calorie deficit. By comparison, concentration camp survivors received 650 cals / day.

I'll let the others chip in, but I don't think 1000 is healthy or safe.

Look up Chillen's extensive posts as to how he calculates caloric needs and stay 500 calories short of that per day. That will result in a loss of 1 # / week, which is a safe rate.

As for your exercising, why not take up stationary cycling to augment your running?
 
Even without knowing your specifics, 1000 calories a day is still below anything recommended to do on your own. Not a good idea if you are bed ridden, much less if you are actually moving any at all. (look up Harris-Benedict equation)

Also, don't skip breakfast. Eat within an hour of waking. Wake up 10 min earlier if you really, truly don't have 5 min to eat anything. Time is rarely (if ever) a real excuse for skipping breakfast.


Until your arm is healed, focus on eating well (that means enough calories of the right things), and maintaining as well as possible under the circumstances (doing some cardio, etc). But, don't push it, and certainly don't undercut your caloric needs in a misguided attempt to not gain weight.
 
Long story short, I have a broken arm. This limits me do to any lifting what so ever. I can only go as high as the weight of a can of soda. The problem I have been going through is that I am putting on a little weight because of this. Right now im running a ton (3 days a week/light jog and walk on off days) to try and lose what i put on. And to throw into the mix that I am trying to get a "six pack", its making this process alittle harder.

What I eat on a daily basis is usually this:

Wake up around 7-8ish Go to class til 12 without eating anything.
(Sometimes when I have time for breakfast I eat a bowl of cereal)


1230 Eat a tuna sandwich (half a can of tuna with 7 grain bread) and a baked potato and regular butter. Along with fruits (watermellon, ect)

230-3 very light stack (cut up tomato, something like that)

5-7 (whenever mom makes dinner) I usally have a general serving.
Usual meals fish, pasta, chicken, roast, and sometimes steak.

Now what I was told is I should be eating around 1000 calories a day, with my running/walking I should be able to lose weight. But I cant see this working. I also just read up about the HIIT program which I am going to start come Monday.


Sorry for the long post but I figured that I should explain as much as I could to get the best answer.

What is your age? 1000c is starving yourself. Never, EVER do this. In addition, you want to give calories and nutrition so your arm can heal properly and at a normal rate.


Good plain truth advice.


Dont EVER STARVE yourself especially at your young and youthful age (Im assuming your young) (let alone a mature adult). Your body will resist you. Being young, you have things going on in your body that REQUIRES adequate food consumption OVERALL (entire body), dont starve it: This is a dis-service to yourself and health I believe.

Yes, you should eat more.

If you like I can give info on how to figure out how much--in the caloric sense. I will provide the basic information, then you have to sort the information out. And, if you have questions, then we can go from there.
 
Depends on your body composition at start. Abs (or the so called six pack) are litterally made in the kitchen, and generally do NOT come quickly, and your Want-o-Meter has to rise to a new level.

Its a function of low body fat.

Deficit dieting is the MAIN thing that does the job.

Some Basic information that can lead you to fat tissue loss

Calorie calculation is an approximation science, remember this. Through your journey WATCH, LOOK, and LISTEN, to your body..........it will TELL YOU if your doing the correct things or combination of things!


○ Change your eating habits (below are some suggestion examples)

○ Substitute an artificial sweetener of your choice in the replace of refined white sugar (Refrain from Refined Sugar like you would a disease)

○ Try eating 5 to 6 smaller meals during the day

○ Balance your meals out during the day so in one day you have a mix of protein, carbohydrate and good fats

○ Drink lots of water during the day and before, during and after exercise

○ Simple Carb Examples: Grapefruit, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Oranges, Apples, Pineapple, etc

○ Complex Carb Examples: Whole Wheat Pita Bread, Oatmeal, Long Grain Brown Rice, Brown Pasta, Malto-Meal (Plain, whole wheat),etc

○ Good Protein Examples: White or Dark Tuna, Chicken Breast, Lean Turkey, Lean Ham, Very lean Beef, Quality Whey Protein Powder,, etc

○ Good Fats Examples: Natural Peanut Butter, Various Nuts, Flax Seed, Fish Oils.

This is what you need to do:

This an approximation science, but you can narrow it down very close, if your meticulous in your vision when looking at the data.

Tweak your desire and passion by educating yourself on the basic requirements of losing fat tissue. With your age, sex, height, and weight, in mind, find your approximated base calorie needs (this is organ function, breathing, or bodily function needs). One can use the Benedict Formula.

Calculate your BMR:

The Harris Benedict equation determines calorie needs for men or woman as follows:

• It calculates your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calorie requirements, based on your height, weight, age and gender.

• It increases your BMR calorie needs by taking into account the number of calories you burn through activities such as exercise.

This gives you your total calorie requirement or approximated Maintenance Line (I call it the MT Line).

Step One : Calculate your BMR with the following formula:

•Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
•Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

Step Two : In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

•If you are sedentary : BMR x 1.2
•If you are lightly active: BMR x 1.375
•If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 1.55
•If you are very active (You exercise daily.): BMR x 1.725
•If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 1.9

Create a Calorie Deficit:

In order to lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit. It is easier and healthier to cut back your calorie intake a little bit at a time.

Every 3,500 calories is equivalent to approximated 1 pound.

If you cut back 500 calories a day, you will lose approximated 1 pound per week. (not necessarily all fat)

If you exercise to burn off 500 calories a day you will also lose approximately 1 pound per week.

The calorie deficit margin is just an example:

Apply this knowledge by backing off the approximated MT Line (approximated Maintenance line), say for example, a -500c per day, for about 1 week. Before the week begins, weigh yourself in the AM when you FIRST get up (do not eat yet) (remember your clothing, preferably with just underwear and t-shirt or like clothes). Note the time, and the approximated wgt.
Each day spread your caloric content out throughout the day (keep the body fed, with calories in the 300 to 500c approximated calories each meal), or a like division which mirrors your end caloric deficit limit (meaning MT-500c).

This way you have your entire day and body encircled with nutrition (I assume you already know to eat clean), which if your eating right, will give an approximated good energy (not optimal because your in deficit) to fuel your training and exercising schedule.

At the end of the week, on the same day, the same time, with the same like clothes, weigh yourself again. Note whether you lost or gained tissue (or weight I mean). To further assist you, I want to tell you that for every approximated caloric deficit of (-3500c), one could lose 1lb of fat tissue. (though some may not all be fat tissue, this information is for another question, and isn't presently suited here).

Now, in this example you were calculating a -500c per day deficit. There needs to be -3500c to lose approximated 1lbs of fat. Now lets do some basic math. -500cX7=-3500c. With all things considered equal, and you were meticulous and faithful on the diet, you should have been CLOSE to losing at least one pound of tissue in the week.

If this didn't happen, this means you need to make finer adjustments, and the MT line is not accurate, and you need to adjust this on your own.

Based upon the FEEDBACK your body is giving you, ask yourself how faithful you were on the diet, AND how faithful in training (whether you kept the training schedule (if you didn't, this would effect the caloric equation, no?!), AND how accurate you figured in your activities caloric wise.........but, you have the base information to begin making adjustments.
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The Nutrients are an essential factor in the diet; however, the law of energy balance within the DIET, is the ultimate KING while the Nutrients can play in some decisions made within the body.

Do yourself a favor, figure out your MT line, adjust off of this, eat well balanced spaced out meals (DONT EVER starve YOURSELF), AND listen to your body for the results.

While you are trying to figure out your body, IT WILL PAY YOU BACK, I promise. You have to learn to MASTER yourself to become the master of weight loss for YOURSELF.
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"Let your inner vision cultivate your ultimate exterior expression" —Chillen

"The strongest inner feeling that prevails will result in the exterior expression" –Chillen

"Your cultivation and manifestation of thought accumulated within your reasoning will determine your outcome"----Chillen
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Deficit dieting is the fat burner, and EVERYTHING follows after this. The deficit can be implemented through the diet or exercise can cause the deficit when you know your MT line reference. Without a adequate deficit, cardio WILL NOT burn fat off you. This is WHY I don't partake in the cardio debates of heart rate, etc........because the bottom line is the deficit diet....period, debate OVER. If you stick to the basic: The Law of energy balance, and tip this to the negative side of the equation, you will be on your way, with everything considered equal and your healthy.

Losing fat is sort of like draining a pool. It usually leaves the shallow end first before the larger end starts to diminish. But, fat and/or tissue is lost all over when deficit dieting.

If you want to lose overall body fat, get your diet in order, eat clean, learn what your approximate MT reference line is according to activities (and back off a HEALTHY margin), and perform overall weight training, and of course, include cardio (cardio DOES have its benefits other than burning calories, carbs, fat, ect).

The most effective beginning is to look at your diet, and make a diet journal in my opinion, THEN work in a training program around this diet.

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You must have a healthy obsession (and obsession to a---Point, is necessary), but some lose this obsession once they learn the amount of work it requires. There eyes then widen and then the obsession then pops right out. Dont let this happen to you: Raise your Want-o-Meter to a new higher level.

Best Regards,


Chillen
 
Are you able to post pics of yourself. At this point without additional info. Im not satisfied that reducing body fat (at the present time, with your broken arm) is the correct thing to do. (some one else can impart an opinion on this).

Im more concerned with how your body composition is at the present. What is your age and height, wgt?
 
Well A little bit more info about my arm, the fracture is about 3 months old and still needs alittle more time healing. So I am out of a cast but I did have surgery. A plate and six screws are now on the bone. Do you think that cutting back my calories would really affect it that much?
 
Its just my opinion in an injury like this, one wants to surround it with the best care. In my opinion, a catabolic environment wouldnt be suited (and deficit dieting brings this environment). I believe that you need to feed the body all it needs to enable the best healing environment. And, a deficit diet in this situation just doesnt settle with me well. I could be wrong on this, but I believe at least eating at your MT line, maybe a tad over (for healing) would be the more acceptable thing to do: for repair and/or building of tissue, etc.

We see what the others have to say.


Best wishes,


Chillen
 
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Well A little bit more info about my arm, the fracture is about 3 months old and still needs alittle more time healing. So I am out of a cast but I did have surgery. A plate and six screws are now on the bone. Do you think that cutting back my calories would really affect it that much?

At 20 years old, you're still growing. Your caloric needs are close to 3000 calories / day, not including the nutrients for your arm to heal. Chillen is right - I can't possibly imagine that your orthopedist would support your plan. But, definitely speak to your orthopedist.

I sense the potential for an eating disorder if you are not careful.
 
In the basic sense (with things equal here for sake of arguement), a deficit diet (eating less than one needs), creates a catabolic environment, where one can lose tissue (both muscle and fat tissue, and this is one of many reasons why weight training is included in a defict diet--to thwart off and/or reduce muscle loss, with the exception being with beginner gains).

This is the main reason Im not supporting a deficit diet in your specific situation. I think the MAIN focus should be completely healing your arm and everything else secondary. This is NOT saying you can't train other body parts appropriately.
 
If you don't get as many calories as you need in a day, over a period of time, what could this do to you?

Depends on what you mean by getting as many calories as you need in a day...

If you are talking about a small calorie deficit for an adult, it results in fat (and, secondarily, muscle) loss which is generally a good thing. If you are talking about a major calorie deficit for an adult, it would probably be unhealthy.

If you are recovering from a broken arm and your body needs nutrients, minerals and calories to repair this arm, then a calorie deficit could be bad (talk to your orthopedist about this).

If you are growing, it could stunt your growth.

Talk to your orthopedist and revise your diet to allow for a minor calorie deficit as Chillen suggested after your arm is fully healed.

My 2 cents.
 
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