Any advice on lossing half a stone

d-arke

Just wondering if anyone could give me an idea on what would be the best way to lose half a stone. But at the same time, don't know if its possible, I want to bulk up a little and tone up. Would those supplements work or is it best just to eat more, if I eat more I'm obviously going to gain more weight. Any advice? Not sure what to do really. I'm not too bothered about the weight, though I am getting a bit of a beer belly

Just been reading other posts and lot of responses seem to want to know weight (85kg/13stone roughly), height (6ft1), age (23)

Cindy Love

Hi there,

no offence but your post is a little convuluted.Do you want to loose weight or gain weight because your mentioning bulking up almost in the same sentence...

hmmmm but u asked for advice and as a general answer-

eat less

drink less booze

stop smoke if you smoke

get more excercise. (half a stone is -in my opinion-easy for me to loose.)you just need to make an effort. Devote some time to excercise and to reading up-THEN come back here and you'll get much more focused answers from focused questions.

As a short term fix.Jog every other night-be careful to warm up and stretch.
Do some weights.

Maybe get a punch bag-tremendous results can be seen really quite rapidly.

Very best of luck

d-arke

no worries, i understand where your coming!! kinda confused myself. definitely dont want to gain weight.

so basically, was just wondering, is it possible to loss say half a stone and at the same time bulk up. still doesnt make sense no matter how i say it. im fairly slim-to-average build and just want to broaden out abit, upper body mainly (and maybe thighs) which probably requires doing weights. oh, and also tone up my upper body, suppose sit ups and push ups??

i already play badminton for about 5 hours a week which is quite good for general fitness, though not sure what else it does for me.

regarding food intact: generally speaking, bowl of cereal for breakfast, sandwhich, good varied dinner (generally rice/pasta/meat/veg), and thats it, rarely any snacks. was thinking i might not be eating enough as im always too tired for anything at night. drink about a litre or two of water a day. only drink booze at the weekend and even then its only about 4/5 pints. dont smoke.

though i take your point, "you just need to make the effort". thats probably my biggest problem. i can be lazy when it comes to something i dont enjoy, sure arent we all!!

ronbyrne2005

you cant easily loose fat and bulk up at same time.bulking requires excess calories and loosing fat requires less calories consumed or more calories expended. train with weights and do light cardio such as jogging or cycling ,when you get to the level of muscle you want increase cardio and/or decrease calorie consumption to reduce body fat,the more muscle you have the easier it will be to loose fat.

padraigcarroll

if u want to lose fat and fast, give up all dairy products, meat, and breads for 4 weeks. make sure u adjust ur eating habits, fruit for breakfast, complex carbs and plenty of green veggies.

U'll prob lose more than a half stone of body fat, really fast within that time if ur doing sports too.

I lost 2 stone of body fat in 2 months this way

d-arke

padraigcarroll wrote:

if u want to lose fat and fast, give up all dairy products, meat, and breads for 4 weeks. make sure u adjust ur eating habits, fruit for breakfast, complex carbs and plenty of green veggies.

U'll prob lose more than a half stone of body fat, really fast within that time if ur doing sports too.

I lost 2 stone of body fat in 2 months this way

ive to cut out diary products, meat, and bread!!! thats everything i eat!! okay fruit for breakfast, i can manage that one. im sure i can manage the green veg as well. but what is complex carbs???

2 stone in 2 months. fair play to you.

Dragan

If you gave up meat for 2 months then a lot of the weight you lost would have been muscle.

Just thought i would throw that out there.

Less muscle = less calories required for daily metabolic activity = more likely to gain back weight.

d-arke

Appreciate the advice Dragon (Don't quite understand it though) and everyone else

Though before I get slated like a few other threads, I've been having a read through some of the other threads. Some good advice being given out.

I'm going to try get some sort of action plan together. Have to start with the diet apparently because I won't notice the difference, especially around the stomach.
Diet:
Replace cereal in the mornings with Fruit or Porridge.
Replace white bread with brown bread.
Have turkey (instead of ham) and salad sandwiches.
Get more complex carbs for some reason, potatoes/rice (which I can manage)
More Veg.
Drink plenty of water.
Limit the alcohol intake.

Fitness:
Will presumeable continue with what I'm doing and possible try start going for a jog/cycle to loss the gut.

turbot

The best way to do this is to lose bodyfat, and tone up your muscle.

There is a book called "The Body Doctor" and the workout programme in that is really awesome for losing weight and toning up. I'd encourage you to buy this book.

Patrick Holford has some great angles on eating to lose weight; which is all about balancing your blood sugar levels as a start. These techniques also left me feeling better.

As a few other suggestions:
- Eat porridge for breakfast
- Purposely set out to move more in everything you do. Stretch more. Walk to more places.
- Take some chromium picolinate
- Cut out fizzy drinks / sweets
- Eat more slowly and chew your food. Never stuff yourself.
- Drink more water
- Do high intensity workout for short bursts in the morning (like a 20 minute session that includes 3 x 60 seconds of sprinting....) to crank up your metabolism
- Obviously alchohol isn't a particularly good idea
- If you do an hour worth of medium intensity aerobics each day; that should do it alone

d-arke

turbot wrote:

- Take some chromium picolinate

Whats this???

Dragan

Now your learning!!!!

Nuttzz

http://www.dietitian.com/chromium.html

opinions?

Dragan

"Chromium works with insulin in assisting cells to take in glucose and release energy. Chromium Picolinate has not been shown to cause weight loss and its ability to improve insulin effectiveness is being questioned."

Thats a quote from the site you posted. Kinda says it all really.

d-arke

Just had a quick glance at the website you mentioned. Don't think I'll be buying any. Seems dodgey.

d-arke

Dragan wrote:

"Chromium works with insulin in assisting cells to take in glucose and release energy. Chromium Picolinate has not been shown to cause weight loss and its ability to improve insulin effectiveness is being questioned."

Thats a quote from the site you posted. Kinda says it all really.

Just had a read of one of your tips on a other thread, you say take a multi vitamin and omega oils. just wondering, why?

Dragan

The multivitamin will cover any defficencies in your diet. It's hard to make sure you get in everything everyday, and also help your immune system. Continuous training can take it's toll.

The omega oils are good for the heart, and are great essential fatty acids which you need to repair and grow muscles.

d-arke

and to think all this time i was thinking my mother was just trying to give me worthless drugs

Bluetonic

When you walking home from The Life walk up home via the Barnageera and the Black Hills... you'll soon lose the weight!

d-arke

Bluetonic wrote:

When you walking home from The Life walk up home via the Barnageera and the Black Hills... you'll soon lose the weight!

Good idea, 4k at 3am...not to mention after having a few drinks. I can't even manage up the main street (good auld g-cabs) let alone the back roads.

Siogfinsceal

Break your bad habits. Firstly find out what makes you eat junk food or over eat and try to avoid those situations. Drink Plenty of water
Eat breakfast in the morning as it starts your metabolism
Drink lots of green tea
Cut out Crisps and Chocolate and fizzy drinks mon-fri but allow yourself to indulge a little at weekends
never eat after 8pm
works for me
also you will need excercise gettign a hobby is a great idea as it will heklp motivate you

Dragan

Siogfinsceal wrote:

never eat after 8pm

Okay , i see this all the time. Someone please try and post a decent reason as to why you should not eat after 8pm based on just this statement i.e "never eat after 8pm". Come on, bring it.

Siogfinsceal

Your matabolism will kick start in the morning. If you eat a breakfast it will get it started sooner. Your metabolism slows down in the evening as your body prepares itself for sleep.

personally I find that if I eat anything late in th evening i dont feel; great the next day

Dragan

Siogfinsceal wrote:

Your matabolism will kick start in the morning. If you eat a breakfast it will get it started sooner. Your metabolism slows down in the evening as your body prepares itself for sleep.

personally I find that if I eat anything late in th evening i dont feel; great the next day

Eh.....no......your metabolism will kick start in the morning with the consupmtion of breakfast yes, but after sleep your metabolism will only really rev up after the consumption of food, so if you don't eat till luch then it will stay slow till then.

As for the "your metabolism slows down in the evening" - utter nonsense. How the hell does you metabolism know you will be going to sleep at a giving time?? "Oh crap, it's half past seven, time for me to start slowing down." Your metabolism will slow down AFTER you fall asleep, and even then only about 5 to 10 percent slower than the normal resting rate which is hardly a huge amount.

Let me put is this way, i and i imagine most people here train after work, i do very heavy weight sessions and as such mymetabolism will be working on overtime for about 4 hours after, meaning that from about 7:30 onwards is pretty much the best time for me to eat my carbs and something bad should i want to.

Saying something like "never eat after 8" is a pretty broad statement and does not really help anyone.

padraigcarroll

d-arke wrote:

ive to cut out diary products, meat, and bread!!! thats everything i eat!! okay fruit for breakfast, i can manage that one. im sure i can manage the green veg as well. but what is complex carbs???

2 stone in 2 months. fair play to you.

Dude - research the theory of natual hygiene and what it relates about food. it's interesting stuff and factual. Basically thats what you should strive for. It requires life changes, and is the complete opposite of going on a diet.

Meat is over rated - does sfa for ya other than make you lethargic and any protein benefits are in spite of ating it rather than because of eating it, regardless of what any meat eater, vegetarian, or bodybuilder tells ya.

Dairy products - massive factor in obesity and heart problems in the western word - fact. compare eastern to westernised places, their incidence of heart disease is ridiculously low compared to the west.

Bread - no evil here, but i reccomend eating other food when ur trying for fat loss, there's a million other things u can snack on that's healthy for u.

Complex carbs - potatoes, rice, pasta etc

Now if u think jaysus my plate will be empty, it wont, u just need to put a thought into what u eat. meat in a meal is actually only a very small part of the dinner, take it out put something else on. Chicken chow mein can become vegetable chow mein with somehting like potato in it instead. Chicken curry - same deal. Ever had Pasta bake with things like aubergine and steaed vegetables mixed in with the pasta? savage!!!
know what i mean?

a very very interesting book that explains better and is nothing to do with dieting despite the name is called "the easyweigh to lose weight" its by the same lad who wrote the easy way to stop smoking, Alan Carr. Like i say its not a diet book, and is very very interesting, if u do what he says it will change ur life forever!!! lol

padraigcarroll

Dragan wrote:

If you gave up meat for 2 months then a lot of the weight you lost would have been muscle.

Just thought i would throw that out there.

Less muscle = less calories required for daily metabolic activity = more likely to gain back weight.

Actually that's not true!

I lost bodyfat and gained muscle mass in that time, believe it or not.
I wasn't eating less at all, possibly more.

look to the animal world... ever seen a scrawny gorilla, ever seen a whippet elephant?!

Dragan

The animals that your pointing out are gentically able to hold that type of muscle on a veg diet. Humans for the most part are not. Sure, you can get many veg sources of protein, but when it comes to building muscle, meat is king. Plain and simple.

Like i said, to anyone who wants to build serious muscle, eat meat.

Siogfinsceal

ya know what Dargan I was just trying to help the poster. What I have suggested really works for me regardless of your opinion on it so lets just agree to disagree on this okay

Dragan

Fiar enough, however your post took nothing into account that the OP may already be doing, such as a late workout or there current eating habits.

As such it was hardly helpful and should have been phrased "Well personnally i never eat after 8 because........blah blah blah"

not "never eat after 8" , this is a pretty definitive statement and as i am assuming the OP has very little understanding or at best a basic understanding of nutrition this was not really helpful at all.

If if works for you then great.

GreeBo

When you say no dairy, does that mean not even milk?
In cereal/tea etc?

padraigcarroll

Dragan! very closed minded of you!
There's a lot of vegan bodybuilders out there mate!!! So, man does have the ability to do the same on a no meat diet.

You're right that you get protein from meat, but if it's so fantastic, why supplement with whey etc?! Meat is way over rated for providing protein, and there are plenty of other more natural protein sources.
Even on a basic biological level, it just drains too much energy in the digestion process in the first place imo!!

padraigcarroll

Greebo

Yeah, no dairy, literally!
no milk, cheese, butter, yoghurts, things with powdered milk in 'em, and so on.
If you feel the need to drink tea or coffee, soy milk (most are sweetened) tastes basically like sweetened milk, so you wouldnt even need sugar, and the taste difference is negligible.
Every try fruit juice on cereal? nice and no need for processed sugar.

Fact is, breakfast should be fruit and only fruit in the morning if you want to lose body fat. It should really be a life choice though.

I always find it funny when people say things like what no milk? at all??? (im not slaggin now!)...... because, milk is only really properly digestible up to when you are 3 or 4 years old, & it's designed for infants within your own species. When was the last time u felt the urge not to milk a cow but to jump into a field and suckle up to a cow and have a slurp?!!!! most people would cringe at the thought!

And as for the meat thing, if you're honest, when did u ever really genuinely look at say a lamb and think, i wouldnt mind slitting its throat, bleeding it out, skinning it, cooking it for however long and eating it..... with something nice like mint sauce (what are we really tasting?! lol)

I'm not a vegatarian by the way and if need be will eat meat or dairy, but as a life choice don't, and the effects doing it has had on my health are unreal, sick less, not lethargic, great digestion, more energy, never get tired after eating a big meal (you know after that steak with pepper sauce dinner where you practically have to go asleep for an hour?!! - doesnt happen at all anymore), fart less lol and so on!!!!


D-arke forgot to mention, another tip.... should do your best to not drink and eat at the same time.

Supercell

padraigcarroll wrote:

Greebo

And as for the meat thing, if you're honest, when did u ever really genuinely look at say a lamb and think, i wouldnt mind slitting its throat, bleeding it out, skinning it, cooking it for however long and eating it..... with something nice like mint sauce (what are we really tasting?! lol)

Lamb is sheep..and tbh have thought "the only reason you are on earth is to feed me..enjoy the grass", as to the specific..don't really care..Darwinism..does the Lion pontificate about the Wildebeast its eating?

I like meat and think its part of a heathy human diet.

turbot

Dragan wrote:

Eh.....no......your metabolism will kick start in the morning with the consupmtion of breakfast yes, but after sleep your metabolism will only really rev up after the consumption of food, so if you don't eat till luch then it will stay slow till then.

As for the "your metabolism slows down in the evening" - utter nonsense. How the hell does you metabolism know you will be going to sleep at a giving time?? "Oh crap, it's half past seven, time for me to start slowing down." Your metabolism will slow down AFTER you fall asleep, and even then only about 5 to 10 percent slower than the normal resting rate which is hardly a huge amount.

Let me put is this way, i and i imagine most people here train after work, i do very heavy weight sessions and as such mymetabolism will be working on overtime for about 4 hours after, meaning that from about 7:30 onwards is pretty much the best time for me to eat my carbs and something bad should i want to.

Saying something like "never eat after 8" is a pretty broad statement and does not really help anyone.

My understanding is this:

Actually, it is a good idea to minimise what you eat late in the evening, because it does affect your metabolism, though not as you think:

Digestion requires energy. When you sleep, your body performs several functions, including helping you to process information and also generally refreshing the nutrients balances within your body and different organs, and hopefully detoxing you to some extent.

Eating too much, like being stuffed on x-mas day, can lead to the body requiring so much energy for digestion that you literally fall asleep. It's that after lunch effect...

Thus, if you eat too much in the evening, you reduce the amount of downtime for your organs and the quality of your sleep. You wake up feeling less refreshed, and more tired and groggy.

Better quality sleep however, contributes to feeling better during the day, and if you are more energised and refreshed during the day, guess what; you're more likely to do stuff that raises your metabolism anyway.

Aside from which, if you are not moving while you sleep, you don't need much energy at all. Any unused blood sugar is usually stored as fat. If your body releases sugar from what you've eaten as you sleep, and you are sleeping peacefully, that same sugar will simply get stored as fat.

These are simplifications... though you get the gist.

Also, you should take chromium picolinate because it helps maintain a steadier blood sugar level, and in doing so, creates a context where you are more likely to burn fat when you exercise, and less likely to store fat (due to excess glycaemic loads... or put differently, too much unused sugar)

Limerick Dude

padraigcarroll wrote:

Greebo

Yeah, no dairy, literally!
no milk, cheese, butter, yoghurts, things with powdered milk in 'em, and so on.
If you feel the need to drink tea or coffee, soy milk (most are sweetened) tastes basically like sweetened milk, so you wouldnt even need sugar, and the taste difference is negligible.
Every try fruit juice on cereal? nice and no need for processed sugar.

Fact is, breakfast should be fruit and only fruit in the morning if you want to lose body fat. It should really be a life choice though.

I always find it funny when people say things like what no milk? at all??? (im not slaggin now!)...... because, milk is only really properly digestible up to when you are 3 or 4 years old, & it's designed for infants within your own species. When was the last time u felt the urge not to milk a cow but to jump into a field and suckle up to a cow and have a slurp?!!!! most people would cringe at the thought!

And as for the meat thing, if you're honest, when did u ever really genuinely look at say a lamb and think, i wouldnt mind slitting its throat, bleeding it out, skinning it, cooking it for however long and eating it..... with something nice like mint sauce (what are we really tasting?! lol)

I'm not a vegatarian by the way and if need be will eat meat or dairy, but as a life choice don't, and the effects doing it has had on my health are unreal, sick less, not lethargic, great digestion, more energy, never get tired after eating a big meal (you know after that steak with pepper sauce dinner where you practically have to go asleep for an hour?!! - doesnt happen at all anymore), fart less lol and so on!!!!


D-arke forgot to mention, another tip.... should do your best to not drink and eat at the same time.

If you dont mind me asking padraig, what do you have for breakfast and how much fruit?

soiaf

padraigcarroll wrote:

Meat is over rated - does sfa for ya

It gives you a good source of Vitamin B-12. Something that you wouldn't get without taking some sort of supplements

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html

Wez

I'm thinking of trying not to eat meat, dairy or bread.. Just wondering, what do you guys that do it have for lunch etc? I love my meat and especially milk and bread, but I really wanna lose a bit of weight for the summer, so I wanna give it a shot. I tend to have a deli roll for lunch every day, but I don't think chicken tikka rolls are all that healthy. Any interesting ideas on what I could replace them with?

Dragan

padraigcarroll wrote:

Dragan! very closed minded of you!
There's a lot of vegan bodybuilders out there mate!!! So, man does have the ability to do the same on a no meat diet.

Funny that you call me closed minded when you have written off meat so much.

As for why we should supplement with whey , because not even a meat lover like me has the time to eat as much meat as my 270 pounds needs.

As for the whole killing your own food thing, been there and done that. I think everyone should try it.

As for Vegan bodybuilders, fair play to them, but they are missing out. Grass fed beef is quite simply great for building muscle. Sure, the Robbie Hazeley's of this worl look alright, but they could look a dam sight better.

But that's just me. Each to there own. You don't want to eat meat, then fair play to you, but for most people without that kind of moral reasoning you go in for, meat is a great muscle builder.

And it's tasty as hell.

padraigcarroll

Longfield: Rock on! enjoy ur grub I only speak from personal experience. Im not vegetarian, im not vegan, but i experience benefits from not eating meat or dairy. (like i say i do when its neccecary but as a whole i dont)


Limerick Dude: 3 or 4 pieces of fruit different types, like apple bananna orange pear kiwi. Sometimes certain types i eat alone like melon. Sometimes I'll have a protein shake either soy based, whey based or a mix of both. Depends on what Im doing weights wise at the time.

Solaf: sure you can take supplements, or you can make fortified B12 foods part of your diet, such as tempeh and other soy products like veggy burgers etc, soy milk, certain types of yeast are full of it.

Dragan: fair enough! agree to disagree on some points so?! lol

Honest though it's not really moral reasoning that i stopped eating meat, it was for the health benefits, and i did notice a difference in my health immediately. re: getting enough protein, sure there's plenty in meat products, and if that floats ur boat go for it!! Im happy enough getting it elsewhere and supplementing with powders etc.
What D-arke could always consider doing, is keeping the meat in the diet for protein benefits if it suits and ditch the dairy, apart from whey protein that is, if he's into the bodybuilding.

soiaf

padraigcarroll wrote:

Solaf: sure you can take supplements, or you can make fortified B12 foods part of your diet, such as tempeh and other soy products like veggy burgers etc, soy milk, certain types of yeast are full of it.

Sure, I know what the alternatives are, they're detailed in the link that I gave.
However, your point was that meat does "sfa for ya". Apart from the obvious benefits from protein, iron etc. I was pointing out that meat is a good source of B12, without having to look for fortified foods (i.e. supplemented).

In terms of what I actually think of your diet, my personal view is that any diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is good, but I would also have (lean) meat (and nuts). I personally wouldn't have cereals either.
Basically I try to avoid products with added salt or sugar.

If you're enjoying what you're eating, thats great!

padraigcarroll

ok maybe i should have elaborated! i believe meat does sfa for you that cannot be done by eating a non meat diet. Thats why i feel the benefits of eating a diet that doesnt contain meat outweight any benefits as you've pointed out from eating meat. Obviously that's just my personal opinion now, but it's also my experience!

You're right about nuts, & i think grain/seeds (flax seed pumpkin seed sesame etc) and so on are very important too. I nuts & grain in all my dinners,they're really good for protein and omega oils etc.
Spot on re: sugar and salt. If more people did this I reckon there'd be a massive decrease in heart disease in Ireland, but to do that properly, unfortunately I think something has to be done about the processed foods industry, beause people for the most part just dont give the time to consider what they are eating.

celt2005

PadraigC,


On Vegan Bodybuilders , they will be riddled with Lab Anabolics. If you eat no meat, hard to get enough Protein, have seen product called VegeFuel , but still think Vegan BB would be on lots of DB (Dianebol) .


Low carb diets will lose weight, and keep you healthier generally.

d-arke

Well...... loads of advice being given. Thanks Alot for the info. Not sure exactly what I'll do. Think I'll keep things simple to start with.

Basically just need to do some toning up work I guess. So will try get some more cardiovascular exercise, and try do some toning up exercises like push-ups and sit ups. I know someone mentioned that this will only push the fat out more as teh muscles are getting larger etc, though in fairness, its not like I'm overly fat around the stomach.

Again, thanks for the info. Though WWIII was about to start with some of those comments

Dragan

celt2005 wrote:

PadraigC,
On Vegan Bodybuilders , they will be riddled with Lab Anabolics. If you eat no meat, hard to get enough Protein, have seen product called VegeFuel , but still think Vegan BB would be on lots of DB (Dianebol) .

Low carb diets will lose weight, and keep you healthier generally.

Are you trying to imply that 100% Vegan was not mean 100% Natural..... i'm shocked, i truly am!! :eek:

Huggles

I have lost two stone in five weeks. I just started to eat better, gave up the booze and I walk home from work everynight, its about 6 miles, I do it in just over an hour. Its hard work but easy when you get a routine