SDN Weight Watchers, Thread the Second

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-04-24 09:26am

Chin up./. Mrs K.. once that ends.. the fluid will flush and your weight will drop..

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2006-04-24 11:18am

I know

It's just frustrating to see no improvement on the scale though, it's embarrassing too especially when I tried so hard that week. But I know the lady must see worse all the time. Thanks for the kind words though, you must have been an excellent personal trainer

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-04-25 07:59am

Well another Monday.. another weigh in... WOOOOO down 3 from last Monday.. making it 13 down.. 40 to go..

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2006-04-25 01:06pm

You have done well. What is your current/target weight?

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-04-25 02:14pm

Ubiquitous wrote:You have done well. What is your current/target weight?

Thanks.. I am 280 now.. Goal 240.. that would put me just about right for a masters division weight lifting competition..

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2006-04-25 04:47pm

You'll lose that 40lb comfortably if your current trend is any indication. Good luck and I am sure you will be winning weightlifting comps again in no time!

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-04-26 08:26am

Ubiquitous wrote:You'll lose that 40lb comfortably if your current trend is any indication. Good luck and I am sure you will be winning weightlifting comps again in no time!

Thanks.. always good to hear..

Today.. was a increase in Cardio and in heavy weights.. WOOo

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-04-26 08:43am

Anyone know how to get rid of chubby cheeks? I've been losing about a kilo a month since new year, but I want to get rid of the fat-faced look as soon as possible.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-04-26 08:54am

kheegan wrote:Anyone know how to get rid of chubby cheeks? I've been losing about a kilo a month since new year, but I want to get rid of the fat-faced look as soon as possible.

If I may ask, how old are you??

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-04-26 09:05am

theski wrote:
kheegan wrote:Anyone know how to get rid of chubby cheeks? I've been losing about a kilo a month since new year, but I want to get rid of the fat-faced look as soon as possible.
If I may ask, how old are you??

I'm 23. I used to be quite thin as a teenager despite having a massive appetite, but in the past couple of years my metabolism must have slowed down and I got a bit chubby (including the face). So I'm trying to lose weight this year.

I'm probably just about 3-4 kilos from being at optimum weight, but I just can't seem to get back my old thin face.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-04-26 09:11am

kheegan wrote:
theski wrote:
kheegan wrote:Anyone know how to get rid of chubby cheeks? I've been losing about a kilo a month since new year, but I want to get rid of the fat-faced look as soon as possible.
If I may ask, how old are you??
I'm 23. I used to be quite thin as a teenager despite having a massive appetite, but in the past couple of years my metabolism must have slowed down and I got a bit chubby (including the face). So I'm trying to lose weight this year.

I'm probably just about 3-4 kilos from being at optimum weight, but I just can't seem to get back my old thin face.

For each person, weight comes off first in different places.. Actually Mine is my face

and my stomach is last.. There is no spot reducing diet or exercise..

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-05-07 07:09pm

Man, I've been noticing it more now than before but I'm just undeniably horny all the time now.

With going on 60 pounds lost, and I don't know the science behind it, I am noticing a serious increase in my sex drive. Not that I have any outlets other than the good ole L&R, but I'm more horny now than I've ever been.

To the point where being around attractive, even nominally attractive women, is both exiciting and distracting.

Yeah, it took 24 years and 50 pounds to finally get my testosterone flowing.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-05-08 06:59am

KrauserKrauser wrote:Man, I've been noticing it more now than before but I'm just undeniably horny all the time now.

With going on 60 pounds lost, and I don't know the science behind it, I am noticing a serious increase in my sex drive. Not that I have any outlets other than the good ole L&R, but I'm more horny now than I've ever been.

To the point where being around attractive, even nominally attractive women, is both exiciting and distracting.

Yeah, it took 24 years and 50 pounds to finally get my testosterone flowing.

Krauser. its a couple of things. 1. as you lose the fat you lost the estrogen that keeps it there increasing your Test to Est ratio..

2. your working out increases Test production.

3. your self image improves making you feel better about yourself..

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2006-05-08 07:35am

Got my height and weight taken by the recruiter. 204 pounds, 25% body fat. A definate improvement from where I was in January. I blame Lent, because I gave up sugar.

theski · Post by **theski** » 2006-05-09 09:36am

A great informative guide to diet and muscle building.

Tips for loose fat/cardio

Many people ask what is the best thing to take to loose fat. There are no miracle pills. You have to get a combination of diet, training and sups.

Cardio and Calories deplession Tips:

Two things generally are required to get lean and ripped. One, you must cut your calories, and two, you must increase your cardio. Now there are some who might argue that you don’t have to do both but I have seldom seen someone really ripped who doesn’t use both.

The biggest mistake I see with both novice and experienced athletes is the introduction of both high volume cardio and very low calories at the same time. In essence, they go from off season mass building to marathon running semi-starvation virtually overnight. This creates a tremendous burden on the system. This burden ultimately leads to significant losses of both size and strength.

Understand that endurance training creates a catabolic environment only when calories are insufficient. When sufficient calories and protein are consumed, the body responds in an anabolic manner to moderate endurance training. This anabolism serves to enhance the body’s ability to perform such exercise in the future. If a person were to go from no exercise, to a lot of exercise all at once, there is a 12-14 day period of adaptation during which nitrogen balance is negative. With sufficient protein, this negative nitrogen balance does not necessarily lead to a net loss of muscle protein.

When you go on a diet, there is an obligatory loss of lean as well as fat tissue (under normal conditions). Increasing protein intake will help to reduce the amount of muscle loss, but it will not prevent it.

Combining both high volume endurance exercise with caloric restriction leads to rapids decreases in bodyweight, but it also leads to rapid losses of muscle tissue and often puts undue stress on the immune system.

The solution is to begin your cardio before you begin your diet. In fact, to optimize the amount of food you can eat and still lose fat you must ramp up your cardio and increase your caloric intake at the same time to prevent any drop in bodyweight for the first two weeks as least. This way you will be eating a lot of food just to maintain bodyweight. This makes the body much more sensitive to reductions in calories/carbs.

You are ending your bulking diet now. Slowly increase you calories until your bodyweight stabilizes at a higher weight, in your case 215 pounds. You may feel fat doing this but it is all preparatory to "better dieting". So once your bodyweight has stabilized at a higher point, slowly introduce your cardio. Be careful not to let your bodyweight drop during the last couple weeks of your bulking diet. Try to consume lots of carbs and lean protein to maintain weight. Guys can get away with a slight increase in fat intake as well. Remember, we are not trying to get fat, only to maintain bodyweight and muscle while introducing cardio into our training.

Once you’re doing as much cardio as you are ever going to do during your diet, slowly begin to reduce the amount of carbohydrates in the diet. If you’ve done it right, you will be consuming tons of carbs before you even begin to diet. All of this allows you to play with your carb intake at a much higher level than you could if you had cut them right at the beginning. I have also seen that people will lose fat consuming many more carbs than usual when taking this approach.

Overall, shoot for about a pound of weight loss per week. This may seem slow, but if you’ve followed these instructions, the diet is much easier to stick to because you are consuming many more calories during the diet.

Diet Tips

First of all, to build muscle, you must constantly overload the muscles. Heavy training is of outmost importance!

To lose body fat but still gain muscle (that is hard but not impossible), you must really watch your diet. Keep your diet high in quality protein to build and preserve your muscle and, of course, watch your fat intake.

But the trick is in your carbohydrate consumption! Not only the amount you ingest, but also which kind.

Here is how I suggest you manipulate your carbohydrate consumption: for a couple of days, eat only vegetables for carbohydrates. Then go back to grains like rice, potatoes, and pasta for a couple of days. Rotate in this manner and see how quickly you start melting the fat.

Because carbohydrates give you energy, this may become difficult at times. Nevertheless, it is very effective. I forgot to mention that when you decrease your carbs you should also increase the consumption of unsaturated fats (good fats), such as Omega 3 , flax seed oil, etc... to help BURN more fat quickly! Yes consuming fat HELPS.

Let's analyse the carbohydrate depletion and fat intake:

I didn't want to get into it, but increasing fat intake (unsaturated fat - Flax seed oil for instance) is very beneficial while decreasing carbohydrate ratio for many reasons.

A low carbohydrate intake will allow for overall greater lipolysis and free glycerol release when compared to either high carbohydrate or normal diets. This is mediated in part by the lack of insulin, which has a lipolysis blocking action even at low concentrations as well as increases in other lipolytic hormones such as growth hormone, glucagon, the catecholamines (don't ask me details on this one) and glucocorticoids. Aditionally, growth hormone levels increase on low carb diets which will further help to prevent the inevitable protein losses which occurs when calories are restricted.

Decreasing carbo consumption suggest that lowering of insulin, and the resultant hormonal mileu created, may optimize the oxidation of fat when fat loss is the goal. However, as many individuals find completely adequate success with less stringent diet, this type of approach is likely not warranted for everyone. Additionaly, a similar hormonal mileu (i.e. lowering of insulin, etc) can occur under normal dietary conditions through various means. A replacement of higher glycemic index carbohydrates with lower GI carbs will lower basal insulin levels as will a high fiber intake. Cardiovascular exercise done first thing in the morning before any calories are consumed may create a similar hormonal picture due to the lowering of blood glucose after 8 hour sleep.

The problem with all fat loss diets it the inevitable loss of lean body mass which will occur. This leads to a loss of muscle tissue and a slowing of metabolism, making weight regain highly likely. KETOGENIC diets may limit muscle protein loss more so than high carbohydrate diets. The big problem with this diet is that it's very dificult to do and it is hard to force your body to go into Ketosis. There are many details to be done while on Ketosis diet.

IN SUMMARY

- To build muscle, you need to train heavy.

- To build muscle, you must eat a lot of high-quality protein.

- To lose body fat, you must eat lean foods in an amount less than you burn. The best way is to restrict your carbohydrates in a rotating fashion and to consume good fats in order to establish fuel balance.

- Take your supplements correctly

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2006-05-24 10:29am

That's a good article theski

I need info on carbs cause that's what keeps me from losing and I do need to cut down but I did make the mistake of cutting them right out, I stopped eating pasta, potatoes and the only thing I ate with any regularity was bread. Now I have learned through trial and error that I need the carbs and have figured out just how much I should eat I'm losing this pound a week. It does work once you find that balance.

Post by **Coyote** » 2006-05-31 01:12pm

While I have not been posting regularly here, I have kept up my efforts. Some may recall I got back from Iraq in March of last year and with a few short months of being home and indulging in all the goodies I'd not had over there I got up to 215 pounds.

Well, I joined Gold's Gym in October and have been working steadily, and I am now down to 199 pounds. I've cut a lot of sugar and alcohol out of my diet and I have learned some surprising things. One is that alcohol is amazingly high-calorie, and simply eliminating beer from your diet goes a long way. Second, a lot of food in the USA is packed full of sugar. I picked up a jar of Skippy's peanut butter recently and I could hardly stand it-- the sugary-sweetness surprised me, for growing up peanut butter had always been a "salty" snack.

Now I have to eat the natural/organic peanut butter, the one with only one ingredient: peanuts. You have to stir it because the oil gets on top, but... it is much better than the chemical-packed name brand stuff.

My recent Army PT test went well:
60 push ups (87 points out of 100 possible)
53 sit-ups (76 points out of 100 possible)
2-mile run in 15 minutes and 20 seconds (86 points oout of 100 possible)

249 points out of 300 possible. And to be honest, I could have pushed myself a little harder.

My body fat index, however, still gets me: For my height (71 inches or 5'11") age (38 yrs.) and weight (199 lbs) I am allowed a maximum of 24% body fat. I have..... 24.56%. Down from a one-time (and shocking) high of 26% though.

I concentrate on cardio, which is good, but nothing burns fat like weight resistance training. I must start to incorporate more of that into my workouts to melt off that last blob of belly jelly to get my fat ratio down... but still, the progress feels damn good.

Good luck to all others and keep at it.

Pezzoni · Post by **Pezzoni** » 2006-05-31 06:11pm

I'm not specifically interested in weight loss, but have recently joined a gym with the goal of weight training to try and put on some muscle (and to get back what I lost in a period of inactivity since Easter!). I'm currently working largely on upper body, aiming for as many sets as I can realistically do of 8 reps, and will hopefully start seeing improvements.

I'm also hoping that I can shake the small ammounts of porkieness that I also have... I'm not exactly fat, but I wouldn't mind being a bit slimmer.

Hopefully a combination of weights on alternate days, eating better, and cycling on the days when I'm not weight training will help get me where I want.

Good luck to everyone else on here attempting similar (or different!) goals

Sr.mal · Post by **Sr.mal** » 2006-06-01 02:04am

Just remember this even a little improvement in diet and exercise can have huge benefits, just not immediatly. recently I have lost 50 pounds (196-145). It really wasn't that big of a change. I just tried to a a bit less at each meal, and put out some more effort each day. 4 months later I'm 50 pounds less. If I can lose weight than so can ANYONE else.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2006-06-03 12:55pm

Mapmyrun.com

My run today: 4.34 miles. Truthfully, a the second half was jogging/walking uphill. My feet are a little sore, but overall I feel good. I still can't run worth a damn, but I'm slowly improving. Now I just need to get used to running in the heat.

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2006-06-03 01:28pm

Coyote wrote: One is that alcohol is amazingly high-calorie, and simply eliminating beer from your diet goes a long way.

Yup, when Cpl Kendall quit drinkng all together he lost 20 pounds with absolutely no effort, he changed nothing else but. Beer is bad for you

Edit: I've been slacking lately but I've still been losing, I'm watching what I eat for the most part but we've had a stressful month so I didn't beat myself up over it. I started back on the treadmill today for 1 hour and man do I ever feel much better. I woke up this morning with no energy at all, was lyng on the couch for a good portion of my morning and then I looked over at my lonely treadmill all folded up and decided I was gonna start back up on it today no matter what it takes. Could be because the subject of the last Weight Watchers meeting was getting motivated again after a slow period. Good timing eh

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2006-06-03 01:43pm

Mrs Kendall wrote:
Coyote wrote: One is that alcohol is amazingly high-calorie, and simply eliminating beer from your diet goes a long way.
Yup, when Cpl Kendall quit drinkng all together he lost 20 pounds with absolutely no effort, he changed nothing else but. Beer is bad for you

I'll have a beer very rarely. If I drink, I'll usually go for two glasses of wine instead, since it's the same or fewer calories.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2006-06-03 05:15pm

Just weighed myself. 205 lbs. Blegh.

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2006-06-03 05:33pm

Keep trying, we all have our bad days/weeks/months

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-06-03 10:44pm

Yeah, defintely don't let a bad period, however long that period might be, get you down.

Just remember what you end objective is, and just try and work towards it, picking yourself back up when and if you fall of the wagon, as it were.

I myself had been doing really well for a year, but for the last month, topped off with a two week vacation overseas, haven't really made any gains. But, I'm working on it again, so it'll work out.