Weight Loss!

[Gabriel_LCP]

I've got a copy of that insanity workout, looks proper mental, not done it yet but will be trying soon

Try it out! Ive noticed I'm not that sore the day after but during the workout its really really tough to complete, its better if you do it with somebody else so you can motivate each other!

Well, let me know how it goes for you, I'm interested in hearing your take on it!

[thebookiesoffers]

Try it out! Ive noticed I'm not that sore the day after but during the workout its really really tough to complete, its better if you do it with somebody else so you can motivate each other!

Well, let me know how it goes for you, I'm interested in hearing your take on it!

I got sent it from a mate that trains in Ju Jitsu, black belt, and trains just about every day and really into his cardio training

[grem]

diet alone could have the biggest impact but that is to say maybe not the healthiest thing to do. Eat healthy and have some exercise.

[Renee]

Oh no Peter, you have started something here that you will soon call a monster! This is a topic I know a LOT about :P

I do have my own website where I post about stuff like this. Would prefer not to post it here as the topic of the site is kinda personal. Happy to share privately with anyone who is interested.

In march last year I started dancing. From dancing alone (didn't really change my eating too much) I lost about 6kg.

When I watched what I ate, I lost more. When I ate normally, I didn't lose. After all the research I've done (and it is a lot) the only thing I can say is that losing weight is about 70% diet.

If you want to lose fat, the best way is calories in vs calories out. What you want to do is burn more calories than you eat in a day.

A few notes - every kg of muscle burns an extra 100 calories per day sedentary. So cardio alone will not give you the best results.
Your body NEEDS carbs. Low carb diet is ok, but no carb diets are bad for you. Your brain needs carbs because it is made 100% of protein. So it feeds on a form of sugar (I can't remember which, either glucose or sucrose - i.e. carbs). If you don't feed your brain, it shrinks. If your brain shrinks, well.. no explaining required.

Your muscles require carbs for repair. Your body can only use so much of protein a day (30g if youre a woman) and the rest is carbs. You want the good carbs though, not the bad ones. So replace white bread with seeded/grainy bread, white rice with basmati or brown rice, white pasta with wholemeal pasta, low fat yoghurts (make sure they are not high in sugar), lean meats (kangaroo meat, chicken breast etc). If you need to have chocolate, replace it with at least 75% cocoa dark chocolate. No less than 75%. And only 1-2 pieces per day. Fruit is also a good source for snacks.

Women burn between 1400-1500 calories per day sedentary, and men burn between 1500-1800 per day sedentary. Note that this is if you are completely sedentary, no exercise at all.

So if this is the case, you want to eat in deficit AND exercise.

1kg = 7000 calories.

1200 calories is the least a woman should eat per day to be healthy. I'm not entirely sure what it is for a man, but at guessing would be 1400-1500.

So if you want to lose 1 kg per week, you'd need to eat in deficit and exercise the rest. Once you've exercised for a few weeks, theoretically your metabolism should get higher, you'll build some muscle and you'll burn more calories while sedentary.

On a 1200 calorie per day diet, and exercise to burn about 500 calories per day, you should come close to losing 1kg per week.

You should give your body 1 rest day per week too, and change up the exercise. Organise a workout schedule for a week, do it for 2 weeks, then change it. Depending on whether you want to lose weight or tone up or both, you should put a combination of things like cardio and strength exercises, alternating daily.

If you're not too savvy on calorie counting, I found this amazing app that does it for you. It's called my fitness pal and its on both iphone and android (they also have a website at myfitnesspal.com if you dont have a smartphone). You just enter the food and it tells you how many calories it is. I have a scale at home and measure my food to ensure I'm counting properly. It will also tell you if you're eating too much, too little, drinking not enough water, and how much you will weigh in 5 weeks if every day was like the current day. Every person I have recommended it to has lost weight using it. It really is one of the best apps I have ever found

Another thing I find helps is drinking 1 cup of water about 30 minutes before I eat. I find that I don't feel as hungry when I eat and then it keeps me fuller for longer after I've finished eating.

I keep my main meals at or below 300 calories, and have 2 snacks per day of 150 calories. If I'm below 1200 at night I will have a desert which is either a piece or 2 of the 75% cocoa chocolate, or some cocoa fudge balls that I make (so yummy) and a herbal tea.

So now that I'm down to a reasonable weight, I'm trying to get ripped (yes, I'd like to be able to see all of my abs - currently I can see the top 2) so I have started the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation. The good thing is that she reinforces everything that I have researched, so it has not been too hard of a change for me.

She gives you a weekly eating plan with recipes (including a shopping list so you only buy what you need), a weekly exercise plan (with videos to show you how to do each exercise) and there are support forums etc etc. I paid $200AUD for the 12 weeks and it's kinda like having my own personal trainer.

For those who don't know who she is, she is one of the trainers on the aussie version of the biggest loser.

Anyway, it's just starting day 5 of this program, and I can confidently say that it is the best $200 I have ever spent. The food is AMAZING and filling and I'm finding new ways to cook things that taste amazing and are very healthy. I'm not hungry. And I can feel muscles getting stronger that I don't regularly use.

I think most people fail because they don't have a plan. So a program like this is highly recommended, at least from me. A friend of mine has done 2 rounds and lost 20kg and looks amazing, so thought I would give it a go to get the last few off and tone right up

Anyway, I could go on all day about this. I hope you got to the end. I'm happy to give advice if anyone wants it or send over my website via PM for anyone who wants to read it. There are only about 3 blog posts about the fitness stuff, but well worth the read if it's something you're interested in.

Good luck everyone! I will be looking forward to before and after pics!

[p.arena]

Thanks Renee, I'll look into trying that one out at some point.

The low carbs diet I'm doing is similar to the Tony Ferguson diet, where they recommend you only eat stuff that is under 5 grams per 100 of carbs or less. I usually stick to it very closely but I found an 8g/100 sugar free icecream which was close enough for me

It really restricts a lot of the stuff you can put in your trolley at the supermarket though. I've got a lot of really nice recipes and found some nice replacement items, like using almond meal instead of breadcrumbs to cook crumbed lamb cutlets, and also blended down cabbage into a puree is nice as a side dish with some gravy and roasted veg on the side. So meals aren't depressing or anything, but may switch to counting calories to maintain it.

Seems like everyone on GPWA is getting in shape - next conference you all attend will look like a Mr Universe competition

[SlotsAff]

Kettleballs are extremely good for losing weight - been doing a circuit that consists of the following:

20 kettleball swings
10 press-ups
20 kettleball swings
9 press-ups
and so on till you do 1 press-up

Should take you about 20 minutes - you will be shattered by the end of it!

[thebookiesoffers]

Kettleballs are extremely good for losing weight - been doing a circuit that consists of the following:

20 kettleball swings
10 press-ups
20 kettleball swings
9 press-ups
and so on till you do 1 press-up

Should take you about 20 minutes - you will be shattered by the end of it!

try this bad boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOyZxI2Zs5w

i do it with a 16kg kettlebell and can honestly say it is a killer

[p.arena]

damn dude, 16kg of that workout for 6 mins thats pretty nuts
Your arms must be killing by the end of it. Did it take you a long time to work up to that level?

[Maria F]

It is so nice to see that they are many of you out there that are concerned about your health; I thought I was the only one.

One of the downfalls of our line of work is that we have to sit all day and it is essential that we do something to relief our bodies from stress and improve our circulation.

[p.arena]

yeah, working at a desk all day isn't good. I usually spend about 10-11hrs+ a day in front of my computer, I think if I didn't start making changes I'd end up a massive blob

[p.arena]

Something interesting while on the subject of diet and exercise..

I remember reading about this study back when I was in uni, where they showed that by mentally imagining doing exercises with the pinky finger, the gain in strength was close to those that actually did strengthening exercises. Pretty amazing, here's the link for those interested: http://lecerveau.mcgill.ca/flash/cap...g_strength.pdf

[thebookiesoffers]

damn dude, 16kg of that workout for 6 mins thats pretty nuts
Your arms must be killing by the end of it. Did it take you a long time to work up to that level?

funnily enough its the legs and lower back that ache the most afterwards

It did take a little bit of work, I started off doing just one set of reps instead of 2

[SlotsAff]

is that insanity workout any good? care to make a copy?

[Renee]

Just updating.
I had my weigh in today (weigh in Wednesday :P)

I have lost 1.8kg since last Wednesday. I'm pretty stoked
I think it's mostly water, but we will see next Wednesday. I'm definitely not as bloated as I was 2 weeks ago.

[p.arena]

good stuff Renee, well done

[mishka11]

Same here. I work around 10hours a day in front of my desktop. But I still make sure I have time to play tennis. It's really the sport that could make me sweat a lot.

My advice, working out or exercise is boring and you can't sustain it. Play sports and guaranteed you can keep it up forever.

[Renee]

Same here. I work around 10hours a day in front of my desktop. But I still make sure I have time to play tennis. It's really the sport that could make me sweat a lot.

My advice, working out or exercise is boring and you can't sustain it. Play sports and guaranteed you can keep it up forever.

I agree on that - if you do something you really enjoy, you will be more motivated to continue on your trek to lose the weight.
The only problem is that if you don't change it up every few weeks, your body gets used to it and it becomes counterproductive. Hence the plateau.
The plateau can also come from too much exercise and not eating enough.. your body starts holding onto the fat instead of getting rid of it because you're not replacing it with enough food.

Once you get the balance right you'll be on fire!

[p.arena]

yeah when you enjoy the sport the time flies by and you don't realise until later how much sweat you've produced.
I'm thinking of joining a 2nd basketball team, and also trying to organise some more weekend pickup games. Probably some 4 on 4 half court, or 5/5 full court we usually get about 10-12 people.

If anyone in the Sydney area is interested to come and play, down drop me a PM and I'll let you know the details.

[p.arena]

Weight loss update, another 1.5kg down this week so the total for the last couple months is now 15.5kg

My jeans are now so loose hahah

[SlotsAff]

Well done on the weight loss 15.5 kg is very impressive!