Fat Loss, plain and simple.

Okay, I have been trying to lose this huge beer belly of a paunch but it never goes away. I have been weight training and am pretty toned but I still have body fat Now I heard the REAL way to lose body fat is to do cardiovascular exercise, is this correct? I have heard stuff I find hard to believe from people who swear by it but I also hear that exercise alone won't melt fat and neither will just diet alone, in fact I also heard if you do one but not the other you will actually gain weight. I also heard if you fast or just don't happen to eat much in a day your will gain weight. Can someone just give a straight answer as to how to lose body fat that is proven effective. I don't care if its vitamins or whatever. Also weight doesn't concern me either. I could weight 300 pounds but if I didn't have this belly fat I wouldn't care the slightest.

-thanks a mil

 

Diet and exercise...

By diet I don't mean the amount you eat but the types of food you eat. Restrictive diets slow metabolism and are counterproductive in the long run.

Straight cardio will burn body tissue... both fat and muscle... and may favor the muscle because there is less blood circulation to fat deposits, like what you are describing on your stomach.

Some folks will make the assumption that doing a ton of abdominal exercises will burn belly fat and that is incorrect. In fact it's not really possible to "spot reduce", but a combination of some cardio and continued weight training will gradually bring about a more favorable body composition. Weight training shouldn't neglect legs or back muscles. Too many people think working out just means just bench pressing and forearm curls and that doesn't do very much to improve overall fitness.

The best program is the one you can stick with long term. People will champion one program over all others claiming that it's the "best way to..." but successfully getting into shape involves persistence. Someone could detail "the perfect" diet and exercise program but if you are so bored with it that you won't do it, the program won't be worth the paper it's written on.

Good luck and I hope some of this helped.

 

fat loss - plain and simple
calories in, calories out

other stuff can be mixed around in many different ways. just like stinkfoot said, find something you can stick with. i've been doing Mark Rippetoe's program from Starting Strength (great book btw) - i've made lots of strength gains, and will continue to do so. its a real basic program but it may be hard on a lowerd cal diet because you are supposed to increase weights each workout. another book in which i've heard tremendous stories from is New Rules of Lifting, by Lou Schuler and Cosgrove. Ross Enamait's books are always great products and are pretty damn inexpensive for what you get in the product. Lots of conditioning workouts, lots of high intensity, lots of GPP to build a work level capacity to do the the intense workouts. you'll lose fat this way.

theres lots of info Intermittent Fasting. i dont' know much about it, but its interesting to read about. i'd check it out. high protein and fat with low carb works great for fat loss.

questions now would be, what have you been eating and what have you been doing for exercise?

 

So actually eating fat and protein subtracting carbs makes you LOSE weight?

and my diet is very limited. Not too big on vegetables I can eat various fruits but I rarely eat them as a meal. I usually eat a few snakes throughout the day but usually I don't eat that much, just don't have an appetite. and for exercise, I've been mainly doing upper body weight training. I'm no stranger to weight training it's just the fat I'm worried about.

 

healthy fats (fish, Peanut Butter, olive oil, etc)

 

Snakes?

I hope that's slang for something.

 

Legs and lower back are important in developing strength and stability in your core, plus working the larger groups stimulates testosterone production which is key in building muscle. More lean body mass (muscle) increases your metabolism- even at rest... and will aid in metabolizing fat.

Your body will need a certain amount of calories to maintain... An average 200 lb man your age who exercises moderately needs to take in 3235 calories daily to maintain his bodyweight. If he wants to build muscle, he'll need to take in more. I'm hesitant to recommend cutting to below maintenance as that can slow metabolism, training your body to store calories as fat. Exercise is a far preferable way to try and trim fat. Straight cardio will burn both muscle and fat. A combination of strength training with a little cardio can limit muscle loss.

 

I agree healthy fats are good for you, as are proteins, while carbs are problematic, but I think a high metabolism is the biggest factor in keeping the weight off. Cardio exercise like running and swimming will do that for you, but the key is to do it frequently so that your body's metabolism adjusts to functioning at a higher rate on a regular basis. Earlier in the day is preferable, that way your body has more time operating at that elevated rate after you've jump started your system, and you burn more calories.

More smaller portion meals are better than fewer bigger meals. It's also best to eat more earlier in the day, and keep it light at night.

Intense, shorter workouts are more effective than long, slower workouts, plus they're easier to stick with because they're less of a commitment time wise, so you're more likely to stick with it.

I swim hard for 20 minutes every morning before work, and that works well for me. I feel alert and energized all day, and I can eat all I want and still stay ripped, which ain't easy at my age.

 

3235 calories! I don't think I take in that many calories. So since I weight 225 and don't eat that many calories does that mean I am starving myself and/or losing muscle mass? Again, I don't want to be a body builder, just lose some fat. So straight cardio is bad huh? So should I weight train and do "a little" cadio? It's neccesary to weight train to lose fat? Or should I take Mellow Yellow's advice and do a quick, hard, workout everyday?

 

Simple answer... do whatever works for you. My answers are a combination of observation and research. Cardio WILL HELP trim the fat but it will also trim muscle. If you're ok with that then that route may work well for you.

It's less critical what plan you take and more important that you stick with it. My answers will be slanted toward a bodybuilding train of thought so take it with that in mind if that is not your "cup of tea". There's absolutely nothing wrong with not being interested in doing that. Find an intense strenuous activity you love doing and do it as often as possible... whether that be riding a bike, playing basketball, tennis, running, swimming... If you want to work a little weightlifting into your routine then by all means do so but if it's going to bore you to the point of giving up on exercise entirely then you should not do it.

Metabolism varies from person to person and my numbers were from some web research and plugging in a couple numbers. I'm thinking you might have a slow metabolism and from what I've read, observed and experienced, weight training is one of the best ways to increase what your body burns... but it's not the only way.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Metabolism is, to some extent, genetic, but you can increase it through life style changes, and you can monitor it by focusing on how you feel. If you feel sluggish, your metabolism's running slow, and you're not burning calories. If you feel awake, alert, and hyper, you're gettin' it done. You'll feel sluggish after big, heavy meals, but you'll feel charged after brief, intense cardio workouts. You gotta gage that for yourself, and go with what works for you.

Stinkfoot's right, you will sacrifice some muscle by doing cardio workouts, but by keeping them short and intense, you can probably come up with a good compromise. One thing to try is combine your weight routine with a brief cardio workout, like swimming, or running up hills (those are good 'cause you're strength training as well). Note that swimmers and sprinters tend to have more muscle mass than distance runners, yet they're lean and mean.

 

wu long tea man, that stuff helped me to loose 20 pounds fast, http://www.coffeebeandirect.com