Am i doing the right thing?

G

garytheanimal

0
Hello all, i'm currently 24 stones and 6'2" tall, i'm a big lad so i can carry the weight quite well, but now that excuse is wearing thin so i'm on the weight watchers diet and doing exercise.

The thing is i used to play Rugby and do quite a bit of cycling so i'm not against to the whole exercise lark but what i used to do was more to build muscle, now its all turned to fat i want to lose it. My personal trainer has given me a program including planks, the step with small weights in my hands, lunges with weights in the hands, some on the cross trainer and barbell squats (10kg) without the squat (if that makes sense???). Some of those things i did to build muscle so i'm a bit confused, what i really want to do is drop about six stones then tone up whats left, am i doing that with these exercises? i know nothing about losing fat, only building muscle.
 
Thats a good start, you want to build some muscle because lean tissue takes more calories to keep it going.

You have a personal trainer so I won't go into a lot of detail on programs, but you definitely want to do strength training and cardio, that will burn the fat.
 
aevans410 said:
Thats a good start, you want to build some muscle because lean tissue takes more calories to keep it going.

You have a personal trainer so I won't go into a lot of detail on programs, but you definitely want to do strength training and cardio, that will burn the fat.
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Hi, thanks for the reply,

I'm just old school and thought that weights increased and cardio decreased? I know low weight/high reps is always good but so many people have said no weights at all and just pound the cardio.

The personal trainer is a bit steep to do the two sessions a week she wanted (i just dont have £280 a month going spare, saving for holiday in NY) so i'm sticking to 1 session every 2 weeks to update her on my progress.

The diet i dont mind doing but i know that will be slow, i'm getting more tempted by the likes of 'Myoplex Diet' etc, just for a quick fix?
I dont want to seem cheeky but you mentioned you could go into more detail on a training program, would you mind just giving me pointers? if i can add them to the program i have it would make it more interesting, and i wont lose enthusiasm as easily.

Thanks for your input though, Gary
 
garytheanimal said:
Hi, thanks for the reply,

I'm just old school and thought that weights increased and cardio decreased? I know low weight/high reps is always good but so many people have said no weights at all and just pound the cardio.

The personal trainer is a bit steep to do the two sessions a week she wanted (i just dont have £280 a month going spare, saving for holiday in NY) so i'm sticking to 1 session every 2 weeks to update her on my progress.

The diet i dont mind doing but i know that will be slow, i'm getting more tempted by the likes of 'Myoplex Diet' etc, just for a quick fix?
I dont want to seem cheeky but you mentioned you could go into more detail on a training program, would you mind just giving me pointers? if i can add them to the program i have it would make it more interesting, and i wont lose enthusiasm as easily.

Thanks for your input though, Gary
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Wait, what? I'm confused.. how many days a week are you doing either cardio or strength training? With or without your trainer.
 
Weight training and cardio together is great for busting fat. The increased muscle mass will burn more calories throughout the day, and you're metabolism after a weight training session stays elevated for a lengthy period of time. Its always a good idea to do weight training and cardio if your goal is to shed fat.

2-3 days a week weight training and 4-5 days of cardio a week works well for me. I've dropped 40 pounds so far. Before I got hurt, I went from 276 to 220. I broke my foot and stopped exercising all together and this time i've went from 298 to 258
 
Waitwhat? said:
Wait, what? I'm confused.. how many days a week are you doing either cardio or strength training? With or without your trainer.
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The program she has given me is a mixture of both cardio and strength training, and i'm doing 4 one hour sessions a week.

Once every fortnight one of the sessions will be with the P.T. to establish if the program needs changing and to make sure i'm losing weight. Some of the exercises she has given me i can do at home, so if i get a spare half hour or hour i can do the planks, and step holding weights etc.
 
aevans410 said:
Weight training and cardio together is great for busting fat. The increased muscle mass will burn more calories throughout the day, and you're metabolism after a weight training session stays elevated for a lengthy period of time. Its always a good idea to do weight training and cardio if your goal is to shed fat.

2-3 days a week weight training and 4-5 days of cardio a week works well for me. I've dropped 40 pounds so far. Before I got hurt, I went from 276 to 220. I broke my foot and stopped exercising all together and this time i've went from 298 to 258
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Thanks again, to be honest the weights and cardio combo suits me from a boredom point of view too, if i had to stick to just cardio i'd go insane.

The personal trainer has me doing 4 one hour sessions a week combining the weights and cardio, so i'll stick to that for the next month or so and see how it goes. How long did it take you to lose the 40 pounds? i'd be over the moon if i could lose 80 pounds by xmas, with hard work and commitment i probably can, i just want to make sure the exercises i'm doing will help me out.

The only downside at the moment is the hot water with Lemon shes got me drinking in the morning.
 
Chillen said:
Curious, what is the purpose of drinking this?

Best regards,

Chillen
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Apparently it gets my metabolism going???? tastes foul but if it works i'll do it.
Shes also told me to chew food at LEAST twenty times before swallowing, theres an enzyme in saliva thats good for weight loss...shes a fountain of information.
 
There's another good reason for chewing your food like that before swallowing. It takes approximately 15 minutes for the "I'm full" signal to reach your brain after you've eaten enough food to fill your stomach. Fast eaters have a tendency to overeat because they continue to eat before the brain gets this signal. You have a better chance of not overeating if you chew like she recommended.
 
Shes also told me to chew food at LEAST twenty times before swallowing, theres an enzyme in saliva thats good for weight loss...shes a fountain of information.
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I agree with: aevans410 on what he stated on this quote.


garytheanimal said:
Apparently it gets my metabolism going???? tastes foul but if it works i'll do it.
I was just curious why she was asking you to drink the hot water and lemon in the morning.
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Do not take it personal. :(

I haven't heard of that combination before, and to be honest with you, it sounded a little-like the claims that some over-the-counter fat loss products make on metabolism.

The human metabolism is a complicated subject matter, that science has learned a great deal about, but has not learned everything, and still has a lot to learn.

Many, many physiological/biological (hormones, age, and genetics) are in play, and IS influenced by the "totality" of ones diet and exercise trend, and it simply does not come down to one simple at home, over-the-counter drink mix.

While stimulants like (various caffeinated products) can increase heart-rate (and in some cases, heat), this will not compensate for one over-indulging in diet, and if one is dieting (to lose tissue), these products play a very, very small role (a trace amount, IMO) as compared to the--adaptive components within ones metabolism when considering the physiological/biological (hormones, age, and genetics), and influence of dietary habits and exercise.

IMO, this drink she is having you consume is a none-player in your success, as compared to your diet construction and exercise regiment.

I get the sense (and I am assuming of course), that she/he thinks that since the water is hot, the body has to cool it down before it processes it, and this takes a bit of work before it can be utilized, and this some how is greater than just simply eating a morning (allotted meal, say oatmeal, which takes some time to digest) with normal water/fluid consumption.

I haven't seen any legitimate and quality documentation on Lemon doing anything to effect one's metabolism, and is nearly laughable, to be honest with you.

Learning what your need "personally" in calories, and adjusting these calories in accordance with your goal, and learning about the manipulative force the macro-nutrients can do within your diet to influence your personal goal, and developing a exercise program to suit your personal needs, and adaptive to your feedback given, will do more for you, than one drink.

Best regards,

Chillen
 
Is she/he setting up a diet for you? I assume this is a possibility, since she is having you drink this, hot water and Lemon each day. To have you drink this combination and not paying attention to the rest of your diet, wouldn't make sense.

If so, can you explain what this is?

I ask this because not all trainers are nutritionists, and she/he may not be assisting you in this area specifically. And, this is area is extremely critical.


Best wishes,

Chillen
 
Chillen said:
Is she/he setting up a diet for you? I assume this is a possibility, since she is having you drink this, hot water and Lemon each day. To have you drink this combination and not paying attention to the rest of your diet, wouldn't make sense.

If so, can you explain what this is?

I ask this because not all trainers are nutritionists, and she/he may not be assisting you in this area specifically. And, this is area is extremely critical.


Best wishes,

Chillen
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Hi, thanks for your input.

I've been told since that the lemon may be there as a way of making it taste better, nothing else, makes sense i suppose? hot water on its own isn't the best.

Shes suggested the Weight Watchers diet and i've been reading through it tonight, it doesn't seem that bad but i'm entitled to 37 points per day and you cant use less than 33 per day or it wont work. Got to be honest i'm going to find it hard to stick to purely because i haven't had a strict eating pattern for a long time, i work shifts (two days/two nights then four rest days) so when i'm in work i eat more than when i'm off, its a boring job for most of the time so i'm usually finding things to occupy my time when i'm off work, so even though i get a good evening meal i dont always eat during the day.

Also its actually going to be a struggle to reach 33 - 37 points as most of the things i eat aren't packed with points (do like my steaks though). I'm going to do it for a couple of months and see how it goes, as the weight comes off the points go down and effectively make it harder to do, so heres hoping.
 
garytheanimal said:
Hi, thanks for your input.

I've been told since that the lemon may be there as a way of making it taste better, nothing else, makes sense i suppose? hot water on its own isn't the best.

Shes suggested the Weight Watchers diet and i've been reading through it tonight, it doesn't seem that bad but i'm entitled to 37 points per day and you cant use less than 33 per day or it wont work. Got to be honest i'm going to find it hard to stick to purely because i haven't had a strict eating pattern for a long time, i work shifts (two days/two nights then four rest days) so when i'm in work i eat more than when i'm off, its a boring job for most of the time so i'm usually finding things to occupy my time when i'm off work, so even though i get a good evening meal i dont always eat during the day.

Also its actually going to be a struggle to reach 33 - 37 points as most of the things i eat aren't packed with points (do like my steaks though). I'm going to do it for a couple of months and see how it goes, as the weight comes off the points go down and effectively make it harder to do, so heres hoping.
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Weight Watchers? Points? What points? Chillen's right.. not all trainers are nutritionists. What does this diet consist of?
 
Waitwhat? said:
Weight Watchers? Points? What points? Chillen's right.. not all trainers are nutritionists. What does this diet consist of?
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Every food you eat is awarded a certain amount of points and you are given a total for the day that you can reach, i think its designed to make you diet but still have some of the things you enjoy. The total you're allowed is made up of a number of questions and after answering the questions i'm allowed 37 points in a day, bearing in mind that one slice of bread is 1.5 points it can actually be quite hard to reach the 37 sometimes.

I'm still contemplating using Myoplex Diet or something similar, as long as i can eat fruit alongside meal replacements through the day i'll probably have better luck with that than the weight watchers diet.
 
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