fat loss - confused!

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louloub

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Hi everyone - I have just registered on here as i am so confused about what to do.
I am 33 years old, I am 5ft 3 and weigh 8 st 3. My BMI (on the Wii) is about 20.45 sometimes a bit less sometimes a bit more.
A year ago I was a stone more than this and lost weight just from eating dinner at about 6- 6.30pm instead of 9-9.30pm and then doing a bit more exercise and cutting down on portion sizes.

I really want to lose fat! I am not overweight - I am about a size 10 but its the amount of FAT. I don't think I eat a "fatty" diet. I have been a vegetarian for over 15 years. I have a couple of glasses of wine every night. I avoid white bread.

What I want to know really is about how to work out on my treadmill. I have been going on it for a few months - only for about 15/20 mins at a time a few times a week so maybe I need to do more but have not done any jogging/running previously.

My treadmill is probably less complicated than ones in the gym - it does not a thing that tells me if I am working at my target heart rate - this is the thing I am confused about. I have read a lot online about working at certain heart rates for certain amounts of time to lose fat. I just don't know how to use it to lose FAT not WEIGHT. I don't mind losing weight as well but my main goal is to lose BODY FAT.
Can someone shed some light on this for me and give me some advice about how best to use my treadmill?
Thanks
 
you can't JUST lose body fat. That isn't how it works.

When you lose weight, you are losing alot of things including water, fat, sometimes muscle..etc. It is never just body fat.

If you use the treadmill for cardio to burn energy, you watch how much you take in and you will lose weight..and that weight includes body fat.
 
On the treadmill, you want to get your heart rate in between walking and jogging, is the best way I can describe it. Walk as fast as you can comfortably. The vanity pounds are a real struggle to take off. I can easily maintain 140-150 pounds at 5'7, but it's not the look I want either, and it's all in my belly, not a good place. I really have to sacrifice to get it lower, more exercise, healthier foods, less foods...sigh.....
 
Karelyn said:
On the treadmill, you want to get your heart rate in between walking and jogging, is the best way I can describe it. Walk as fast as you can comfortably. The vanity pounds are a real struggle to take off. I can easily maintain 140-150 pounds at 5'7, but it's not the look I want either, and it's all in my belly, not a good place. I really have to sacrifice to get it lower, more exercise, healthier foods, less foods...sigh.....
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Why is that where you want your heart rate to be for fat loss?
 
louloub said:
Hi everyone - I have just registered on here as i am so confused about what to do.
I am 33 years old, I am 5ft 3 and weigh 8 st 3. My BMI (on the Wii) is about 20.45 sometimes a bit less sometimes a bit more.
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You're a 116 lb female. You're carrying a little extra flab. Yet all you want to focus on is losing fat with no specific attention to your muscle.

This isn't about weight. It's about body composition.

A truly fat person can take a very general approach. Pretty much anything will "work" assuming he or she is eating less calories than their bodies need.

The further to the left you go of being truly fat, meaning the closer to "normal" you are, the more specific you have to be with your plan of attack. You have to worry about nutrition and fat loss AS WELL AS maintaining or building muscle.

That is, unless you're solely interested in reaching a certain number on the scale (or the Wii). Most everyone though is more concerned about how they look or feel rather than some arbitrary number that's pretty much meaningless once you're close to a normal weight.

What I'm getting at is you should be doing some resistance training. You can't "cardio" yourself into the body of your dreams. That's not how this works.

A year ago I was a stone more than this and lost weight just from eating dinner at about 6- 6.30pm instead of 9-9.30pm and then doing a bit more exercise and cutting down on portion sizes.
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It was the increased activity that caused the loss... not the timing of the meal. Eating late at night, assuming calories are matched to eating earlier in the day, will not make you fat.

I really want to lose fat! I am not overweight
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This screams, "I really want to improve my body composition."

- I am about a size 10 but its the amount of FAT. I don't think I eat a "fatty" diet. I have been a vegetarian for over 15 years. I have a couple of glasses of wine every night. I avoid white bread.
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I know plenty of fat vegetarians. Vegetarian does not equal automatic health or fitness. Having too much fat on your body is a function of a) eating too many calories (which can come from a vegetarian diet) and b) not doing the right things in terms of exercise.
 
Karelyn said:
If your heart rate is too high, you just burn off glucose.
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This is a very common misconception.

Depending on the intensity of exercise (intensity is defined as a percentage of max heart rate), you'll use various fuel substrates. There are 3 primary sources of fuel and these are fat, glucose/glycogen, and the phosphagen system.

The lower the intensity of exercise, the more the activity will be fueled by fat. The higher the intensity of exercise, the more the activity will be fueld by sugar and the phosphagen system.

People took this to mean, "Exercise at lower intensities to lose more fat."

That's wrong, though. Ya see, fuel substate used during activity matters little in terms of net fat loss. What matters most is total work done during the bout of exercise as it's the net calories expended that make the most difference.

Look at it like this: At complete rest is when the largest percentage of fuel is coming from fat oxidation. So why don't we sit on our butts all day to lose the greatest amount of fat?

A friend and author of mine, Alan Aragon, recently wrote an article with regards to this very subject. In it he states:

"Although I’m burning a greater proportion of stored fat typing this sentence, getting up and sprinting would have a greater impact on fat reduction despite its lesser proportional use of fat to power the increased intensity."

Exercising at higher intensities, even though it relies less on fat as fuel, leads to greater fat loss "at the end of the day."

The myth comes from the fact that people only ever pay attention to fat oxidation (burning) during exercise and never stop to think, "Hey, the total fat oxidation is what truly matters... not just the oxidation happening DURING the bout of exercise!"
 
Ok Steve, good to know. Great, Thanks, so now I need to work out even harder?...great...you burst my bubbble...snicker, snicker. But you know, I will tell you this, I can work out a lot LONGER at that pace, then doing a 5 minute sprint, so doesn't that come into play?
 
Wow! Thanks so much for the replies. Steve - thanks for your advice - you sound like you know what you are on about. I have been doing some light weights - for arms and shoulders and some squats and lunges and have also been using a resistance band for upper body as well. I do pilates style abs exercises and then leg lifts on the floor. - so as long as I do the cardio AND the strength stuff is that will improve my "body composition?" I try and do all this stuff within 1 hour at the most as often as possible but am very busy with 3 kids about. I was also interested in what you said about the timing of eating not making any difference if the calorie intake is the same as I have heard loads of times that eating late is bad for you and makes you fatter etc.
Thanks again guys.
 
Karelyn said:
Ok Steve, good to know. Great, Thanks, so now I need to work out even harder?...great...you burst my bubbble...snicker, snicker. But you know, I will tell you this, I can work out a lot LONGER at that pace, then doing a 5 minute sprint, so doesn't that come into play?
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That's a great point. If you have all the time in the world, sure, doing large volumes of low intensity cario will, maybe, match or exceed the total calorie burn of higher intensity work.

But what about practicality?

Who has time for that once you factor in other necessary forms of exercise (like lifting weights), work, life, etc? You're talking several hours a day, every day, in terms of what would be required.

And the fact that higher intensity work favors positive body-comp changes anyway sort of defeats the purpose.
 
Hey Karelyn!
You know what you said about working out LONGER at a lower intensity? Do you think a mixture of slow then fast then slow again would maybe help to do some high intensity bits and then recover a bit and then fast again? I tend to do that because I could not keep up a fast speed for very long (2/3 mins) but would be bored and feel like not doing much if was just a low speed for a long time
 
louloub said:
Wow! Thanks so much for the replies. Steve - thanks for your advice - you sound like you know what you are on about. I have been doing some light weights - for arms and shoulders and some squats and lunges and have also been using a resistance band for upper body as well. I do pilates style abs exercises and then leg lifts on the floor. - so as long as I do the cardio AND the strength stuff is that will improve my "body composition?" I try and do all this stuff within 1 hour at the most as often as possible but am very busy with 3 kids about.
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You shouldn't need to do cardio every single day. If you find that's the case... something is off nutritionally. In fact, we should be focused on your nutrition more than anything else. If you're not realizing the progress you had planned for, nutrition is the first place we should turn.

So how about describing your typical day's worth of eating.

Also, do you pay any particular attention to things like calories, protein, etc?

Once nutrition is dialed in, specifically to your case, you shouldn't *need* anymore than 0-5 sessions of cardio per week and 2-3 sessions of resistance training per week.

The cardio would last anywhere from 20-60 minutes per session.

The resistance training would last anywhere from 30-60 minutes per session.

I was also interested in what you said about the timing of eating not making any difference if the calorie intake is the same as I have heard loads of times that eating late is bad for you and makes you fatter etc.
Thanks again guys.
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The nut of it is this:

You can't create something out of nothing. If your body needs 2500 calories per day to maintain itself, eating anything less than that, regardless of WHEN you eat it, isn't going to cause fat gain.

How would it knowing what we know about energy.

Think of it like this... fat is stored energy, right. If you're not eating enough energy to cover your daily activity, how on earth are we going to create more fat?

The myth stems from people typically eating uncontrollably at night. Generally people like to unwind later in the evening. It's when the boots come off and the television goes on. And unfortunately, many of us are conditioned to eat while we watch or things like this.

Some people also have this weird idea that metabolism turns off while you sleep which is exactly wrong too.

Both of these combined is where the myth comes from.

That said, I'm not saying you SHOULD eat late at night. But if you're struggling not to... then don't.
 
louloub said:
Hey Karelyn!
You know what you said about working out LONGER at a lower intensity? Do you think a mixture of slow then fast then slow again would maybe help to do some high intensity bits and then recover a bit and then fast again? I tend to do that because I could not keep up a fast speed for very long (2/3 mins) but would be bored and feel like not doing much if was just a low speed for a long time
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Yes-- I think that is a good idea. I might be doing something like that and not realizing it. I typically do this routine 5 days a week, (when I am trying to be good, that is) Note to self: must be more consistent-hehehe----OK- I do 10 minutes on the stationary bike, then I do 10 minutes of a fast walk on the treadmil, then I do 10 minutes on the elliptical, which gets my heart rate up the highest. I do some sit ups and leg lifts while watching tv, and I occasionally throw in some weights, but between mowing a big lawn with a push mower and cleaning a 4 bedroom home, my arms get plenty of exercise, and you can actually see muscle and tone. But is this not good enough?? I have gone through times where I just go full throttle and beat myself into the ground, but that never lasts long, and this is something I seem to be able to force myself to do at the very least. What do you think? I guess I would rather work out 'lighter' every day, than harder less days. But like I said, I am no expert, and interested in improvement - so opinions welcome. But maybe that's why so many people 'don't' keep up there exercise programs, when it gets too tough it's overwhelming.
 
louloub said:
Yes I think really it's better to do "less" but more often.
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Thanks, I seem to feel better when I am moving daily, and the thought of hitting the exercise equiptment isn't so looming, as I tell my self, over and over, it's just 30 minutes, get it over with. And you know, I've noticed that men seem to be able to accomplish much more with just weight training, and working out....even to the point of them not changing their diets at all. Where it seems like women have to concentrate on the food aspect more. :ack2: The whole 'carb' thing has me TOTALLY confused too.
 
Ok - Steve this is roughly my normal eating:
I usually have 2 pieces of wholemeal toast for breakfast. For lunch If I am going to work I make lunch to take and I would have a sandwich (cheese and salad or quorn and salad or occasionaly egg) made with wholemeal bread. I would also have a pack of crisps

On days off I have 200ml of soup (half a tin) with 2 pieces of wholemeal bread or beans (half a tin) on toast.
For dinner when we eat together as a family at about 6.30pm we have things like pasta with homemade tomato/vegetable sauce. Sometimes veg. risotto, maybe sometimes vege burger/sausages with potatoes and vegetables. On nights when I eat later I have veg curry with rice/ chilli made with quorn, sometimes a jacket potato with cheese and vegetables.

What you said about people chilling out and eating in the evening - This is what I do I'm afraid. When the kids have gone to bed I sit down and have maybe 2 or sometimes 3 glasses of wine and eat crackers with cheese and sometimes crisps. Not LOADS but maybe 5 crackers. I would not do this if I was having dinner later - but when I have dinner at 6.30pm - then by 9.30 when I have a glass of wine - then I want to snack a bit
 
I typically don't get into looking at people's individual foods in their diet. Eat what you want. Just adhere to basic rules like:

1. Make sure your calories match your goals.

2. Eat approximately 1 gram of protein for each pound of estimated lean body mass that you have. If you aren't very active and don't lift weights, you can notch this down a bit. If you'd like, you could also go the other way and notch up to 1.5 at most.

3. Have roughly 25-35% of your diet coming from fats. Of these it should primarily be coming from the "good stuff" - things like olive oil, fish oil, avocados, nuts, natural peanut butter, etc, etc.

3. Eat plenty, and I do mean plenty of fibrous veggies. Personally I keep a huge stash of various raw veggies in the fridge to munch at will.

4. Don't be afraid of fruit.

5. Try your best to stick to whole, natural foods for the majority of your intake.

Beyond that, it's pretty much up to you. Numbers 2-5 typically won't fill up all your daily calories so be creative. This is where some people fit their "goodies" in. I know I do. It's really your call what you do with the remaining calories.

If you want to really get down and dirty and analyze your intake, sign up for a free account on or something of the like.
 
Lou Lou, I am interested in what Steve's reply is to your diet. I guess after reading it, I would think maybe your carb count is too high. But it looks like you are a vegetarian, which would make that hard to rectify. That's why I was saying the whole carb thing is confusing. I try to eat less of them, but as a former vegetarian, the only meat I like is fish, and I force down chicken and turkey when I can. I am just not big on meat. My day is typically 3 eggs and coffee for breakfast, L-tuna with salad and fruit, and dinner on my so called diet days would be grilled chicken and vegetables, but I absolutely adore pizza and pasta and bread and often make that a dinner many a night, and would actually love to eat vegetarian again, but worried about the carb thing. Don't know what to believe about it anymore. I know white flour is pretty much a no brainer, but there's so much contraversy about the need for whole grains or not...a whole subject in an of itself. There's so many studies for each point, but I guess I am not interested in studies, each side always finds a way to make their point, you know. I am more interested in hearing about real life experiences from real people.
 
to be honest I do not really pay that much attention to carbs/protein etc - and I know that I don't eat enough fruit and veg. I just went on fitday.com and put in my food intake for today and yesterday.
yesterday: total calories: 1770 The pie chart said: carbs 41% fat 33% protein 12% and alcohol 14%
Today (not finished today yet but entered what I will prob. have):
total calories:1363 carbs 46% fat 29% protein 9% and alcohol 16%

I don't know how good or bad this is but I think my alcohol intake being higher than protein can't be good!
The calories seem ok - I think I should be losing weight really on those calories. Mind you as I weigh less now (8st 3) I realise my calorie intake has to be lower to maintain the weight.
 
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