Lose a stone for Christmas!

Kaka_8

Hello all, first time poster but have been lurking here for quite a while. Some excellent advice.

Here are my details...

Male, age 20, height 5'9.5'', weight 14 stone.

Would like to get down to around 13 stone for Christmas.
So by my reckoning, I need to burn off 49000 calories in 5 weeks.
That would be a 1400 calorie deficit a day.

My plan is to lose this stone through dieting and cardio before Xmas, lose another 8Ibs in January and then hit the weights hard from february to get in real good shape for the summer.

I know most of you advise to aim for a 500Kcal daily deficit or else I'll lose muscle and my metabolism would be damaged etc. but I know some rugby and soccer clubs will put their players on a diet of 1000Kcal+ deficit a day and whilst they do lose some muscle, most of it is fat lost. If I can get my maitenance up to 3000 a day, then eating 1600Kcal a day shouldn't be too difficult?

So in other words, I accept I'll lose some muscle mass but I don't care as long as I lose most of the fat.

Please comment and give your thoughts on this plan...

Now to a couple of questions. First up, my diet is pretty good, my general rule of thumb is to avoid processed food and refined carbohydrates. Eat plenty of vegetables, oily fish, steak, chicken, nuts, brown bread, eggs, cottage cheese etc and drink plenty of water. I don't drink alcohol very often at all. Anyway, my question is what ratio of foods would you recommend for my plan? 40:30:30 or go low carb and head into ketosois altogether?

Second question. I'm not lifting free weights until I see a personal trainer because I'm not getting injured for using stupid technique! Don't have money to see one now and plan is to see one on Feb 1st. I have about 3-4 hours spare a day as I am a college student:rolleyes: And am willing to at least do 2 hours training, 6 days a week for the 5 weeks. So I reckon(from reading here) that HIIT would be the way to go for fat loss. Should I hit the machine(safer) weights 6 days a week just doing high reps, low weights or is it worth doing as I probably won't have the energy to do heavy lifting due to my calorie deficit.

Finally, any supplements people would advise? Caffeine tablets or fat burners etc? Would they make much of a difference?

Thanks for reading and feel free to advise me on anything you think I;m doing is wrong.

Thanks.

Rycn

Don't want to kill your enthusiasm here but a 1500 calorie deficit is a ridiculous way of thinking.

1500 is near most peoples RMR (resting metabolic rate). Resting metabolic rate is the energy required to perform vital body functions such as respiration and heart rate while the body is at rest. About 50 to 75% of someone's daily energy use can be attributed to resting metabolic rate.

I suggest you think your plan through with a realistic approach.

Kaka_8

Yes but I'd be eating 1600Kcal worth of excellent calories - good fats, protein and shed loads of vegeatables.

I'd probably be getting as much, if not more nutrients for my body's functions than the average person. Or are overall calories the most important thing for our body's functions?

Rycn

Yes but I'd be eating 1600Kcal worth of excellent calories - good fats, protein and shed loads of vegeatables.

Doesn't matter.

1600 calories will be in around someone of your ages RMR, you will need far more than that every day if you intend to remain active and healthy.

You will need to eat more than that, it's not a matter of will I or won't I.

Doctor_Socks

You said you were a college student, does your faculty have Christmas exams? If they do I would strongly advise you not to cut that much calories from your diet in the lead up and performance of exams as it will really affect you. Exams take enough out on the body as it is with stress and other factors without starving it.

farmchoice

do HIIT (look up workouts on the net) 3 times a week and keep the calories to about 1500 a day or event higher on the days you do the HIIT and you will lose that stone by christmas.

Kaka_8

Doctor_Socks wrote: »

You said you were a college student, does your faculty have Christmas exams? If they do I would strongly advise you not to cut that much calories from your diet in the lead up and performance of exams as it will really affect you. Exams take enough out on the body as it is with stress and other factors without starving it.

No, have 2 exams both worth only 20%, have the modules passed already and am only in first year, the exams are really not hard. Not a problem at all tbh. I wouldn't plan to hit such a calorie deficit if they were important, thanks for the concern anyway.

Kaka_8

Rycn wrote: »

Doesn't matter.

1600 calories will be in around someone of your ages RMR, you will need far more than that every day if you intend to remain active and healthy.

You will need to eat more than that, it's not a matter of will I or won't I.

farmchoice wrote: »

do HIIT (look up workouts on the net) 3 times a week and keep the calories to about 1500 a day or event higher on the days you do the HIIT and you will lose that stone by christmas.

Now I am getting totally conflicting opinions

farmchoice

[QUOTE Originally Posted by Rycn
Doesn't matter.

1600 calories will be in around someone of your ages RMR, you will need far more than that every day if you intend to remain active and healthy.

You will need to eat more than that, it's not a matter of will I or won't I.
Quote:
Originally Posted by farmchoice
do HIIT (look up workouts on the net) 3 times a week and keep the calories to about 1500 a day or event higher on the days you do the HIIT and you will lose that stone by christmas.


Now I am getting totally conflicting opinions][/QUOTE]

i'm no expert in nutrition or the like but i am 6''2 and i needed to lose a couple of stone so i cut the calories back to about 1500 a day and did lots of steady state cardio, and over the course of a few months i lost the weight.
move forward a few years and i had put a stone on again. this time i cut to about 1400 calories on my rest days and then did 3 sessions of HIIT a week and consumed about 1900 calories on these days and lost the stone in about 3 weeks. now i eat what i want and keep up the 3 sessions of HIIT and i am still losing a bit of weight and at the same time getting fit as a fiddle.

Roger Marbles

Kaka_8 wrote: »

Hello all, first time poster but have been lurking here for quite a while. Some excellent advice.

Here are my details...

Male, age 20, height 5'9.5'', weight 14 stone.

Would like to get down to around 13 stone for Christmas.
So by my reckoning, I need to burn off 49000 calories in 5 weeks.
That would be a 1400 calorie deficit a day.

My plan is to lose this stone through dieting and cardio before Xmas, lose another 8Ibs in January and then hit the weights hard from february to get in real good shape for the summer.

I know most of you advise to aim for a 500Kcal daily deficit or else I'll lose muscle and my metabolism would be damaged etc. but I know some rugby and soccer clubs will put their players on a diet of 1000Kcal+ deficit a day and whilst they do lose some muscle, most of it is fat lost. If I can get my maitenance up to 3000 a day, then eating 1600Kcal a day shouldn't be too difficult?

So in other words, I accept I'll lose some muscle mass but I don't care as long as I lose most of the fat.

Please comment and give your thoughts on this plan...

Now to a couple of questions. First up, my diet is pretty good, my general rule of thumb is to avoid processed food and refined carbohydrates. Eat plenty of vegetables, oily fish, steak, chicken, nuts, brown bread, eggs, cottage cheese etc and drink plenty of water. I don't drink alcohol very often at all. Anyway, my question is what ratio of foods would you recommend for my plan? 40:30:30 or go low carb and head into ketosois altogether?

Second question. I'm not lifting free weights until I see a personal trainer because I'm not getting injured for using stupid technique! Don't have money to see one now and plan is to see one on Feb 1st. I have about 3-4 hours spare a day as I am a college student:rolleyes: And am willing to at least do 2 hours training, 6 days a week for the 5 weeks. So I reckon(from reading here) that HIIT would be the way to go for fat loss. Should I hit the machine(safer) weights 6 days a week just doing high reps, low weights or is it worth doing as I probably won't have the energy to do heavy lifting due to my calorie deficit.

Finally, any supplements people would advise? Caffeine tablets or fat burners etc? Would they make much of a difference?

Thanks for reading and feel free to advise me on anything you think I;m doing is wrong.

Thanks.

Thoughts? Well, I completely agree that it is too big a deficit and regarding not doing weights, I've never had a PT supervise me and still can do the compound lifts with good technique...mark rippetoe videos are widely available on youtube and you'd be hard pressed sometimes to find PTs who know as much as him when it comes to compound lifts.

No offence, but your plans sounds, well, not good let's say.

Why the xmas target btw? (Would it not be healthier in the long run to lose body fat slowly rather than a stone of "weight" quickly?)

boomtown84

Dude if your diet is as clean as you say it is then stop worrying about a crazy calorie deficit like that.get yourself to the gym,ask the (usually free) trainers there to show you the basic movements.start lifting and do your high intensity interval cardio 3/4 days a week and believe me you'll start seeing great results in no time.
setting goals for yourself is very important and it's great that you are so enthusiastic but they have to be achievable.i bet if you start eating 1400 kcals a day that enthusiasm will soon go out the window.you will feel like SHHHHHHIIIIITTTTT and that's no way to feel around Chrimbo time!:)

Kaka_8

Roger Marbles wrote: »

Thoughts? Well, I completely agree that it is too big a deficit and regarding not doing weights, I've never had a PT supervise me and still can do the compound lifts with good technique...mark rippetoe videos are widely available on youtube and you'd be hard pressed sometimes to find PTs who know as much as him when it comes to compound lifts.

No offence, but your plans sounds, well, not good let's say.

Why the xmas target btw? (Would it not be healthier in the long run to lose body fat slowly rather than a stone of "weight" quickly?)

Just find having a Xmas have a target gives me that bit of motivation that I need. Tbh, I'd be happy if I lost 10 Ibs by then but might aswell aim for the stone so that I lose at least the 10.

Yeah I'll give starting strenght a go and look up that guy's videos, cheers.

How about HIIT one day, weights the next and keep going like that for 5 weeks. An hour in the gym every day and eat 2000Kcal a day?

Basically looking for a proven program that will help me look the best I can in 5 weeks time. Have plenty of spare time so will look into any suggestions.

Thanks.

dekbhoy

Kaka_8 wrote: »

Just find having a Xmas have a target gives me that bit of motivation that I need. Tbh, I'd be happy if I lost 10 Ibs by then but might aswell aim for the stone so that I lose at least the 10.

Yeah I'll give starting strenght a go and look up that guy's videos, cheers.

How about HIIT one day, weights the next and keep going like that for 5 weeks. An hour in the gym every day and eat 2000Kcal a day?

Basically looking for a proven program that will help me look the best I can in 5 weeks time. Have plenty of spare time so will look into any suggestions.

Thanks.

************WARNING*****************

any person who loses a stone from now till christmas will have to be aware that for 1 you will not be able to eat as much food ,so will no doubt have to offend some people when they offer you good hospitality , so be prepared to offend and 2 and well more importantly, you will not be capable of drinking as much beer as you are probably used too , resulting in chances of vomiting and memory loss more likely and also the chances of having as good a time will decrease sharply....... so my adviced is think before you diet!

Khannie

Kaka_8 wrote: »

That would be a 1400 calorie deficit a day.

I haven't read the rest of the thread. I'll just say that 1400 calorie a day deficit = omfg starving. It'll be fine for the first few days. A week even. Three weeks in at that deficit level you're gonna feel like a dogs dinner.

Roger Marbles

Kaka_8 wrote: »

Just find having a Xmas have a target gives me that bit of motivation that I need. Tbh, I'd be happy if I lost 10 Ibs by then but might aswell aim for the stone so that I lose at least the 10.

Yeah I'll give starting strenght a go and look up that guy's videos, cheers.

How about HIIT one day, weights the next and keep going like that for 5 weeks. An hour in the gym every day and eat 2000Kcal a day?

Basically looking for a proven program that will help me look the best I can in 5 weeks time. Have plenty of spare time so will look into any suggestions.

Thanks.

Check this out re fat loss:

http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/fat-loss-101-everything-you-want-to-know-but-were-afraid-to-ask/

Hanley

farmchoice wrote: »

do HIIT (look up workouts on the net) 3 times a week and keep the calories to about 1500 a day or event higher on the days you do the HIIT and you will lose that stone by christmas.

Someone who doesn't train jumping straight into HIIT?! At that kcal deficit?!

Advice like this makes the internet bad.

Zamboni

You could do worse than reading and implementing this.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-rapid-fat-loss-handbook

cmyk

Hanley wrote: »

Someone who doesn't train jumping straight into HIIT?! At that kcal deficit?!

Advice like this makes the internet bad.

And don't forget starting strength on alternate days!!! I suspect when people suggest HIIT they really just mean IT anyway. OP you've been given some terrible advice, and some good advice, have a read of the links, they should see you on the right track.

Transform

Kaka_8 wrote: »

Hello all, first time poster but have been lurking here for quite a while. Some excellent advice.

Here are my details...

Male, age 20, height 5'9.5'', weight 14 stone.

Would like to get down to around 13 stone for Christmas.
So by my reckoning, I need to burn off 49000 calories in 5 weeks.
That would be a 1400 calorie deficit a day.

My plan is to lose this stone through dieting and cardio before Xmas, lose another 8Ibs in January and then hit the weights hard from february to get in real good shape for the summer.

I know most of you advise to aim for a 500Kcal daily deficit or else I'll lose muscle and my metabolism would be damaged etc. but I know some rugby and soccer clubs will put their players on a diet of 1000Kcal+ deficit a day and whilst they do lose some muscle, most of it is fat lost. If I can get my maitenance up to 3000 a day, then eating 1600Kcal a day shouldn't be too difficult?

So in other words, I accept I'll lose some muscle mass but I don't care as long as I lose most of the fat.

Please comment and give your thoughts on this plan...

Now to a couple of questions. First up, my diet is pretty good, my general rule of thumb is to avoid processed food and refined carbohydrates. Eat plenty of vegetables, oily fish, steak, chicken, nuts, brown bread, eggs, cottage cheese etc and drink plenty of water. I don't drink alcohol very often at all. Anyway, my question is what ratio of foods would you recommend for my plan? 40:30:30 or go low carb and head into ketosois altogether?

Second question. I'm not lifting free weights until I see a personal trainer because I'm not getting injured for using stupid technique! Don't have money to see one now and plan is to see one on Feb 1st. I have about 3-4 hours spare a day as I am a college student:rolleyes: And am willing to at least do 2 hours training, 6 days a week for the 5 weeks. So I reckon(from reading here) that HIIT would be the way to go for fat loss. Should I hit the machine(safer) weights 6 days a week just doing high reps, low weights or is it worth doing as I probably won't have the energy to do heavy lifting due to my calorie deficit.

Finally, any supplements people would advise? Caffeine tablets or fat burners etc? Would they make much of a difference?

Thanks for reading and feel free to advise me on anything you think I;m doing is wrong.

Thanks.

what are you currently doing i.e. what did you do today or yesterday to take you one step towards your goal?

Kaka_8

Transform wrote: »

what are you currently doing i.e. what did you do today or yesterday to take you one step towards your goal?

Yesterday:

Diet: 2 small pears
Small bowl of Porridge & milk, square of 85% dark chocolate + tablespoon of natural peanut butter melted in.
10 cocktail sausages(80% pork), grilled.
4 poached eggs & Slice of Brown bread & butter
Kipper fillet(very oily) and Cup of mixed vegetables.
half of Flap jack, no added sugar.

Workout: Ran on treadmill at 19Kph for 40 seconds, walked for 40 seconds. Did this 6 times. Then rested for 5 mins. Got backon treadmill and ran steadily at 10Kph for 20 mins. Was fairly shattered.

Today:

Diet: very similar to yesterday except had mackerel instead of kipper, 150g mince meat and cottage cheese instead of sausages and apple, handfull of grapes and strawberries instead of pears and flapjack.

Work out: Started on starting strenght, was spending alot of time asking how to do things properly, other trainers there very helpful. Did a bit of stretching before hand and spent around an hour actually doing the weights. Can feel some pain all over now, get the feeling it'll be worst in the morning. Will do the same cardio workout that I did yesterday, tommorow night.

Frogdog

Kaka_8 wrote: »

Work out: Started on starting strenght, was spending alot of time asking how to do things properly, other trainers there very helpful. Did a bit of stretching before hand and spent around an hour actually doing the weights. Can feel some pain all over now, get the feeling it'll be worst in the morning. Will do the same cardio workout that I did yesterday, tommorow night.

Famous last words.