Not making progress on my cut...

[antych]

Originally Posted by csu87

All depends on how his body reacts to exercise. Keep in mind he is running AFTER he is lifting, which means he is already burning calories. This is just the icing on the cake to burn even more. Intense, shorter duration workout > low intensity, long duration workout.

It depends on your goals. If it's burning fat, through exercise, the relation is exact opposite. Low duration intensity training will achieve pretty much nothing. You will burn a bit of glucose, boost your metabolism, then you get hungry and eat more to get your blood glucose back up. Amount of fat burned, zero.

OP, no wonder you can't lose fat. All you do is cycle through your glycogen stores.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by antych

You used to run for just 10 minutes?! That will only burn glucose in your bloodstream, liver and muscle. There's absolutely no fat burning happening in this form of exercise. Fat burning exercise needs to be low in intensity and long in duration. HIIT is great for your overall fitness and cardiovascular health, but if you want to lose fat, go hiking for few hours, or watch tv on a stationary bike. You have to maximise the time you're moving around.

It's difficult to put in much time, as I said I'm in a very demanding and lengthy graduate school program, no time for anything most days besides class/studying/gym.

[antych]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

It's difficult to put in much time, as I said I'm in a very demanding and lengthy graduate school program, no time for anything most days besides class/studying/gym.

One more reason you shouldn't do it the hard way. Get back the time you're wasting, so you can study, rest and have a life.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by antych

One more reason you shouldn't do it the hard way. Get back the time you're wasting, so you can study, rest and have a life.

That's a fair point and one I've been told repeatedly by people including my parents. However, personally, I just view that as striving for mediocrity. I was to be the best individual I can be, and that includes reaching my genetic potential in terms of physicality and aesthetics. I'm not saying this because I'm uncomfortable in my own skin, I just want to shoot for the highest and be the best I can be.

[csu87]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

That's a fair point and one I've been told repeatedly by people including my parents. However, personally, I just view that as striving for mediocrity. I was to be the best individual I can be, and that includes reaching my genetic potential in terms of physicality and aesthetics. I'm not saying this because I'm uncomfortable in my own skin, I just want to shoot for the highest and be the best I can be.

Go hard while you are at the gym and you'll do fine. Even a 30-45 minute workout can do wonders if you are all business and no bs at the gym. Keep with the weights and get cardio in when you can.

[antych]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

That's a fair point and one I've been told repeatedly by people including my parents. However, personally, I just view that as striving for mediocrity. I was to be the best individual I can be, and that includes reaching my genetic potential in terms of physicality and aesthetics. I'm not saying this because I'm uncomfortable in my own skin, I just want to shoot for the highest and be the best I can be.

Achieving the same results or better, in less time is not mediocrity. That's being smart and it's your only chance to reach your genetic potential. It's not going to happen if you follow bad dietary advice and exercise wrong. You may not be striving for mediocrity, but that's where you'll end up because some of your efforts are wasted. Since this is a car forum... it's like race, the driver who follows racing line and understand and respects his car will reach his potential and win, the one who is just driving "hard", will always be the mediocre one.

[Germanauto]

I know it's been a long time but I just wanted to update you all. I've lost a good 9 lbs and am looking more cut and defined. It sucks to be getting smaller but this is a necessary step to get where I want to be. I basically found a couple items to cut out of my diet, ate the majority of my food before 7 p.m., and changed my Cardio routine slightly. Idk if this made a difference but I started having about a teaspoon of Sriracha with my carrots. I did this b/c (a) it tastes better and (b) I've read that Sriracha spikes the metabolism. It seems to have helped. Thanks again for all your input!

[InternetFame]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I know it's been a long time but I just wanted to update you all. I've lost a good 9 lbs and am looking more cut and defined. It sucks to be getting smaller but this is a necessary step to get where I want to be. I basically found a couple items to cut out of my diet, ate the majority of my food before 7 p.m., and changed my Cardio routine slightly. Idk if this made a difference but I started having about a teaspoon of Sriracha with my carrots. I did this b/c (a) it tastes better and (b) I've read that Sriracha spikes the metabolism. It seems to have helped. Thanks again for all your input!

Keep it up man!

[csu87]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I know it's been a long time but I just wanted to update you all. I've lost a good 9 lbs and am looking more cut and defined. It sucks to be getting smaller but this is a necessary step to get where I want to be. I basically found a couple items to cut out of my diet, ate the majority of my food before 7 p.m., and changed my Cardio routine slightly. Idk if this made a difference but I started having about a teaspoon of Sriracha with my carrots. I did this b/c (a) it tastes better and (b) I've read that Sriracha spikes the metabolism. It seems to have helped. Thanks again for all your input!

Nice results, keep it up.

I too just went through a quick cut over the last month. needed to lose ~10 lbs and was able to do it through just a ton of cardio.

I'll have to try that siracha trick. Ive heard people talk about it, but never heard someone actually do it.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by csu87

Nice results, keep it up.

I too just went through a quick cut over the last month. needed to lose ~10 lbs and was able to do it through just a ton of cardio.

I'll have to try that siracha trick. Ive heard people talk about it, but never heard someone actually do it.

Sriracha--that's silly. You would have to eat high amounts of any spicy food to get marginal increases in metabolism. It's the other stuff that keeps the weight down. But, pepper sauce does improve food if you can hang with the spice.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by csu87

Nice results, keep it up.

I too just went through a quick cut over the last month. needed to lose ~10 lbs and was able to do it through just a ton of cardio.

I'll have to try that siracha trick. Ive heard people talk about it, but never heard someone actually do it.

Wow that's a lot of weight in one month, seems like you'd lose some muscle but congrats regardless. I've found this journey to be all about adjustments and keeping your head up. My body fat also fell 3% to 12.5% after I made some changes. It all comes down to how bad you want it!

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by jgoens

Sriracha--that's silly. You would have to eat high amounts of any spicy food to get marginal increases in metabolism. It's the other stuff that keeps the weight down. But, pepper sauce does improve food if you can hang with the spice.

Ha it probably is silly and I mainly started it just to make my carrots taste less bland. Then I read it could spike the metabolism for a short period of time so why not keep going with it? It's all about balance though cause that stuff has a fair amount of sodium.

[John Tanglewood]

Originally Posted by gthal

I've gone from 29% BF to 8% with heaving lifting and managing intake carefully. I've maintained it for many months with ease but mainly because I'm committed to training (heavy weights) and track everything going in my mouth. I've also played with my macros to get it right... measuring BF and weight and comparing it to my intake and adjust until I found MY actual maintenance level (cutting/bulking from there). I've found that I cut well around 2,100 - 2,200 calories and maintain well around 2,650 - 2700 calories per day. I'm also 5'10 and around 172 lbs.

Side question, do you have a girlfriend? Would you post up some of your meal plans, snacks, and what a typical week might look like?

I ask about the girlfriend because for me that changes everything. It's fairly easy (kind of) to restrict yourself and your own diet, but when you have another person in the equation who you must eat meals with, etc, I feel like it becomes an infinitely harder task.

Add to that my girlfriend is a pescatarian, so I can never share my easy protein meals (chicken, turkey meatballs, etc.) with her.

Any advice is helpful. I have been really active in crossfit for a couple months. I'm almost 5'-10" but have been stuck around 185lb due to my sugar and late-night eating addictions. I also drink pretty regularly, having at least one drink every other night. I have seen some awesome gains in crossfit, but I think they are all hiding under the extra 15-20lb of fat I have been sustaining, so I really want to start seeing the results of my labor.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by John Tanglewood

Side question, do you have a girlfriend? Would you post up some of your meal plans, snacks, and what a typical week might look like?

I ask about the girlfriend because for me that changes everything. It's fairly easy (kind of) to restrict yourself and your own diet, but when you have another person in the equation who you must eat meals with, etc, I feel like it becomes an infinitely harder task.

Add to that my girlfriend is a pescatarian, so I can never share my easy protein meals (chicken, turkey meatballs, etc.) with her.

Any advice is helpful. I have been really active in crossfit for a couple months. I'm almost 5'-10" but have been stuck around 185lb due to my sugar and late-night eating addictions. I also drink pretty regularly, having at least one drink every other night. I have seen some awesome gains in crossfit, but I think they are all hiding under the extra 15-20lb of fat I have been sustaining, so I really want to start seeing the results of my labor.

I'm the same height and weight as you and also find the sugar at night is a detriment. I would say I have an extra 5lb of fat that would be good to be off and I find if I cut the sweets for a week or two this happens. I think alcohol has less to do with it even though it turns to sugar, I still put them away pretty well. Beer is worse on the alcohol thing.

[John Tanglewood]

Originally Posted by jgoens

I'm the same height and weight as you and also find the sugar at night is a detriment. I would say I have an extra 5lb of fat that would be good to be off and I find if I cut the sweets for a week or two this happens. I think alcohol has less to do with it even though it turns to sugar, I still put them away pretty well. Beer is worse on the alcohol thing.

Hahahah. I don't know how old you are, but I pretty much stopped drinking beer in favor of bourbon throughout the years. I still put away a bunch of beers when they're around, but I probably do 80% liquor now in favor of beer, which maybe has more sugar?

Definitely the sweets are a KILLER for me, and when you eat them is crucial. Sometimes I'll just go for ice cream at midnight and that's probably the worst decision I could ever make.

My ex-wife worked for a clinical weight loss center, a private place for the rich people of NY Burbs (Mt. Kisco area). I learned a LOT from her yet I still ask some questions on here because I like to get real-world advice from people as opposed to hearing about the same meal plans she gave her clients.

Some of her "hard" rules to her clients were as follows (feel free to critique if you happen to have any conflicting info):

• Make 100% positive you eat something within 1 hour of waking up.
• Stop eating entirely after 10pm
• Consume at least 1/2 of your body weight in grams of protein (for people like me who work out, I read to consume your literal weight in grams of protein).
• Drink at least 100oz of water per day for guys, 80oz for girls (semi-hard rule depending on your height/weight)
• Eat 6 (six) meals per day - Breakfast | Snack | Lunch | Snack | Dinner | Snack
• Try to keep every meal ~100cal or less
• Try to get at least 15g of protein in every "snack"
• Try to keep under 50g Carbs per day, but add as-needed if lacking energy

Some of the last ones regarding the specific amounts of carbs and proteins I think can be attributed to one of the "famous diets" that goes in and out of trends, but I don't remember which one.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by John Tanglewood

Hahahah. I don't know how old you are, but I pretty much stopped drinking beer in favor of bourbon throughout the years. I still put away a bunch of beers when they're around, but I probably do 80% liquor now in favor of beer, which maybe has more sugar?

Definitely the sweets are a KILLER for me, and when you eat them is crucial. Sometimes I'll just go for ice cream at midnight and that's probably the worst decision I could ever make.

My ex-wife worked for a clinical weight loss center, a private place for the rich people of NY Burbs (Mt. Kisco area). I learned a LOT from her yet I still ask some questions on here because I like to get real-world advice from people as opposed to hearing about the same meal plans she gave her clients.

Some of her "hard" rules to her clients were as follows (feel free to critique if you happen to have any conflicting info):

• Make 100% positive you eat something within 1 hour of waking up.
• Stop eating entirely after 10pm
• Consume at least 1/2 of your body weight in grams of protein (for people like me who work out, I read to consume your literal weight in grams of protein).
• Drink at least 100oz of water per day for guys, 80oz for girls (semi-hard rule depending on your height/weight)
• Eat 6 (six) meals per day - Breakfast | Snack | Lunch | Snack | Dinner | Snack
• Try to keep every meal ~100cal or less
• Try to get at least 15g of protein in every "snack"
• Try to keep under 50g Carbs per day, but add as-needed if lacking energy

Some of the last ones regarding the specific amounts of carbs and proteins I think can be attributed to one of the "famous diets" that goes in and out of trends, but I don't remember which one.

I'm 46. Totally agree on the move to liquor as opposed to beer. It takes me quite a good amount of beers (unless they are 8.0% or more) to get a buzz on, while 3 or 4 whiskeys does the job. And...today is a Sharks game and then I have an invite to go watch the Peru vs Brazil soccer game with a bunch of beer drinking Peruvian guys....guess we know what will happen there.

[UncleWede]

•Eat 6 (six) meals per day - Breakfast | Snack | Lunch | Snack | Dinner | Snack
•Try to keep every meal ~100cal or less

I'm a math major and all, but doesn't that add up to only 600cal/day? At that level, I'm dead. I'm about the same height/weight as you, although apparently my Mexican wife's cooking adds about 10lbs more to my frame.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

•Eat 6 (six) meals per day - Breakfast | Snack | Lunch | Snack | Dinner | Snack
•Try to keep every meal ~100cal or less

I'm a math major and all, but doesn't that add up to only 600cal/day? At that level, I'm dead. I'm about the same height/weight as you, although apparently my Mexican wife's cooking adds about 50lbs more to my frame.

FTFY

But...that food is so good. Can she cook for me? I love Mexican food.

[Germanauto]

Yeah dude that alcohol and especially late night eat is hindering you big time. That 1 hr/day in the gym is the easy part, it's the other 23 hours that are so crucial and difficult to manage when it comes to sculpting your body.

I eat dinner around 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. and by that point have consumed like 95% of my food for the day. After that I'll just have an apple, clementine, and maybe a whey protein shake if I still haven't met my protein goals for the day. It sucks but no pain no gain right?

[csu87]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Wow that's a lot of weight in one month, seems like you'd lose some muscle but congrats regardless. I've found this journey to be all about adjustments and keeping your head up. My body fat also fell 3% to 12.5% after I made some changes. It all comes down to how bad you want it!

it was right around 5% weight loss for me so not a ton. Had a wedding i was in and the suit I had gotten when I was about 20lbs lighter and did a lot less leg workouts.

I did lose a little muscle (assumed since my strength in a couple lifts dropped ~5-10lbs).

Im going to end up losing more though as I hurt my back again and wont be able to deadlift/squat. At least my jeans wont fit as tight I guess.

[InternetFame]

Originally Posted by John Tanglewood

I have been really active in crossfit for a couple months. I'm almost 5'-10" but have been stuck around 185lb due to my sugar and late-night eating addictions. I also drink pretty regularly, having at least one drink every other night. I have seen some awesome gains in crossfit, but I think they are all hiding under the extra 15-20lb of fat I have been sustaining, so I really want to start seeing the results of my labor.

Originally Posted by jgoens

I'm the same height and weight as you and also find the sugar at night is a detriment. I would say I have an extra 5lb of fat that would be good to be off and I find if I cut the sweets for a week or two this happens. I think alcohol has less to do with it even though it turns to sugar, I still put them away pretty well. Beer is worse on the alcohol thing.

The thing with alcohol is that it is extremely easy to underestimate the actual detrimental effects of it on muscle protein synthesis and fat loss, since literally 90% of the body's functions shut down the moment it is detected in the bloodstream; the flushing of it becomes the only priority, no matter how small the amount taken in. Maintaining a caloric deficit is also critical, but it will depend on how active you are on a regular basis. A total daily expenditure calculator will probably help you a lot, since a meal plan from a trainer will most likely be catered toward each client, specifically.

Most of the weight I had packed on before I'd lost the 40-45lbs came from having a girlfriend who cooked everything under the sun/relationship comfort weight. It creeps on quickly. I limit my drinking to a maximum of one night a week (usually 8-10oz of straight bourbon/rum with some junk food to consolidate my cheat day).

The midnight snacking is absolutely a killer. I used to have it bad, too. I'd recommend a casein protein shake right before bed to promote satiety and continue your growth process, should also help with the sweet tooth.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by csu87

it was right around 5% weight loss for me so not a ton. Had a wedding i was in and the suit I had gotten when I was about 20lbs lighter and did a lot less leg workouts.

I did lose a little muscle (assumed since my strength in a couple lifts dropped ~5-10lbs).

Im going to end up losing more though as I hurt my back again and wont be able to deadlift/squat. At least my jeans wont fit as tight I guess.

Small world. I strained my lower back too roughly 2 months ago while doing squats. Reaggravated it a month ago basketball so I'm gonna have to hold off squats and deadlifts for a couple more months at least.