Need Some Advice!

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umfan2008

New member
Hello all. I'm looking for some advice.

I'm 1 month in to a 4 month weight lose competition. The first month, I lost 26 lbs and 4% body fat. The thing is, I want to increase the % of body fat lost each weigh in, compared to losing the lbs.

I currently run 2.5 miles every day except Fridays. I don't run at a crazy speed but I don't walk. I run on a treadmill, have a curl bar with minor weights, and will be purchasing a exercise ball this weekend. I follow a strict diet of chicken and fish. I haven't counted my exact calories for a days worth of eating, which I might do tomorrow actually.

Can anybody recommend any changes to my work out that might increase me losing more body fat? I appreciate the help and best of luck to everyone!
 
OK....first off, congrats!

Ok, with losing more BF than "weight" you are going to have to focus on more resistance training.

Finding the balance between losing pounds and bf is going to take some tweaking to find what is going to work the best.

You may want to up your protein while keeping your fat and carb intake the same. This will help preseve the muscle you build while still allowing you to cut body fat.

Make sure that you split your muscle groups up. This will allow your body to recover properly and help you not overtrain.

I really hope that this may have helped a bit. Good luck on your challenge!
 
Thanks for the reply BigTex.

Do you know of any good resistance training exercises that i could do at home?

Also, how much protein do you think I should be intaking each day? Right now I eat around 1450 calories total a day. Do I need more then that?

Thanks again for your help.
 
Steve - I was thinking the calorie intake was low too. Would this lead to me not being able to run for as long as I could before? Would it also lead to me being tired a lot more in the mornings as well? If it's low, what type of foods can I add to up the intake but still be eating healthy food?

After the competition, I will continue to work out but my diet won't be as strict (ie. i will ALLOW myself to have a cheat day, where as now I don't).
 
umfan2008 said:
Steve - I was thinking the calorie intake was low too. Would this lead to me not being able to run for as long as I could before?
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Sure.

Our bodies aren't stupid.

Increase your activity, yet really restrict fuel for said activities, and things tend to not work as well.

Would it also lead to me being tired a lot more in the mornings as well?.
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Could.

If it's low, what type of foods can I add to up the intake but still be eating healthy food?
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Well you're between a rock and a hard place. You're in a weight loss competition. And this is why I don't like said competitions. Great for getting people to be health conscious... but more often than not they go about things in unhealthy, short-term ways that lead to temporary results.

Leaves me to wonder is people are doing it for the competition/prize or for the results.

Weight loss is about calories more than anything else. So it doesn't matter what sort of food you add, 'healthy' or not, if you increase your intake, there's a good chance you won't lose as much.

But that's comes full circle to the problem. Your intake is too low, I'm assuming without know our stats. But fixing the problem will slow your results in the competition.

After the competition, I will continue to work out but my diet won't be as strict (ie. i will ALLOW myself to have a cheat day, where as now I don't).
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It's not about cheat days.

It's more about total caloric intake and what comprises said intake.

In most cases, for long term results, I'm not a fan of cutting calories by more than 30% from maintenance.

From there, I fill in protein, then fats, then carbs.

Again speaking generally.
 
Steve, thanks again.

If your looking for stats on me, I'm 238 lbs, 26 year old male.

So I guess if I need to higher my calorie intake, I don't really know what to eat that will raise it, but won't affect the competition drastically. I currently have a pretty set schedule for eating and what I eat.

If I want to lose body fat, can you offer any type of tips on adjusting my workout?
 
umfan2008 said:
Steve, thanks again.

If your looking for stats on me, I'm 238 lbs, 26 year old male.
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Yea, so 1450 calories is way to low IMO.

To go that low, you'd have to very certain that you're getting adequate amounts of protein and essential fats (fibrous veggies too) assuming you're looking to optimize health and muscle maintenance.

So I guess if I need to higher my calorie intake, I don't really know what to eat that will raise it, but won't affect the competition drastically.
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This statement makes me wonder if you understand what I said in my last post. The competition is based solely on weight. Not any logical measure like body fat % or other health metrics (BP, cholesterol, VO2 max, etc).

Weight is a direct function of energy intake (calories).

On one side of the fence, IMO, you need to eat more for health and chances of long term results. On the other side of the fence you need to eat as little as possible to win the competition.

One is right and one is wrong IMO. Take a stab at which is which.

If there is a middle ground though, it's in the idea of keeping calories low but also really making sure your nutrients are dialed in to minimize the negative side effects of eating so few calories.

I'd be eating upwards of 1 -1.5 grams of protein per pound of goal weight for starters.

I currently have a pretty set schedule for eating and what I eat.
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I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.
 
Actually, the competition is not based solely on weight lose. It's based on a combination of weight lose and BF lost. So it's not only the total amount of lbs lost but both weight and body fat lost.

What would your recommendation be for calories?
 
So even more of a reason to ensure adequate protein and resistance training for muscle maintenance.

Without those two factors, coupled with too low of a caloric intake, you're asking for a nice loss in muscle...

I'd set calories at something like 8 x bw

Or, if I was dead serious about winning the competition, which I wouldn't be, I'd do a PSMF and be done with it.
 
What is PSMF?

Alright last question then, what type of resistance training can i do at home without a major in-home gym?
 
umfan2008 said:
What is PSMF?
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Protein Sparing Modified Fast.

It's not something I suggest to anyone... it's just what I would do. But I also have an extremely good grip on my nutrition and the reality of weight fluctuations that the 'program' isn't going to cause me any grief or backlash.

Alright last question then, what type of resistance training can i do at home without a major in-home gym?
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Do you have any sort of equipment?
 
..completely frustrated

I Need Some Help

i grew up really heavy, when i was 11 i was almost 2 stone heavier than i am now (17). i started running and currently i'm running 5 miles 3 days a week and 6 miles 2 days a week. I also try to stick to a max of 1200 kcals a day intake.

im not huge but im not 100% happy, im a UK Size 10, thats a US 3 or something i think?:S probably wrong, but anyways!

the weight has stopped coming off and i cant seem to loose anymore and im gettin really frustrated and anxious and nervous that i won't lose any more. Ive tried running a little bit more but as you can guess it takes up alot of time and i'm getting completely exhausted between school and exercise and my ankle is getting pretty sore but i don't want to go to the doctor with it incase i'm told to rest for a few weeks


any tips?
 
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