A "rip down"/fat loss - what to eat?

[timtim86]

Hello people,

I'm 20 years old, pretty fit, work out a fair amount (4-5 times a week) and have quite a lot of muscle mass. Currently I weigh about 14st, about 15% of which is body fat. Over the last year or so I've been eating lots of protein/fats/carbs in order to build up muscle mass and to keep me going through rugby matches etc, and now I'd like to go on a "rip down" or so it's called, to get rid of the excess fat I have and give me some more muscle definition.

Can anyone give me some advice on what to eat / when to eat it and what I should chuck into my gym routine to lose that extra bit of fat?

Also, I've never taken protein shake, just eaten more to compensate...do you think that'd be a good idea now? I guess I could get more of the protein and less of the crap if I did use it, pretty expensive though. Is it worth it?

Basically, I'm pretty happy with my level of weight lifting, now i'd like to slim down a bit.

Thanks for your help, Tim

[Theo]

-Eat 5-8 small meals per day.
-No complex carbs after lunch, except on weight lifting days.
-Porridge, eggs, chicken, lean beef steak, mackerel, broccoli, lettuce, brown rice and boiled jersey potatoes should be the staple of your diet.
-Cut out bread from your diet and eat only wholemeal/brown products - rice, sugar etc.
-Eat 2-300 calories under your BMI
-Drink a whey protein shake after a workout. Not as a meal substitute.
-Drink water only.

Lift weights 3 times per week, one muscle group per session.
E.G. Monday - Back and Biceps. Wednesday - Chest and Triceps, Friday - Legs and Shoulders.

40 minutes of fasted low intensity cardio, 4-5 times per week.
or
20 minutes of non-fasted high intensity cardio, 3 times per week.

Try to keep cardio and weights sessions seperate. E.G Weights in the evening, cardio in the morning.

Stay strict and it'll fall off.

[timtim86]

Thank you for that, it looks very useful. I have a couple of questions though -

Why should whey protein only be taken post-exercise and not as a meal replacement?

What would a good breakfast consist of?

Should I still be going for high weights and reps of about 6-8, or should I be looking to do more reps at a lower weight?

How the devil do I figure out what my calorie intake should be?! My BMI is hovering around 24.8/9 (i know that almost counts as obese, but really, i'm not )

Thanks for your help theo...how do you know this stuff?!

[merdat]

Well Theo , I am definitely going to try some of that . I have got to make up an exercise book this week - see if I can get myself back into a routine and lose some weight.

[Clarky]

For rugby don't you need the extra body fat?

[Kezzer]

For rugby don't you need the extra body fat?

Depends how lean you are.

[MathsPar]

If you can get some swimming in that really helps to trim down. Also loads of repetitions of lower weights helps to tone. I don't have any qualifications but I was a competitive swimmer for 8 years so that's what I learned during that time.

[Disturbedguy]

-Eat 5-8 small meals per day.
-No complex carbs after lunch, except on weight lifting days.
-Porridge, eggs, chicken, lean beef steak, mackerel, broccoli, lettuce, brown rice and boiled jersey potatoes should be the staple of your diet.
-Cut out bread from your diet and eat only wholemeal/brown products - rice, sugar etc.
-Eat 2-300 calories under your BMI
-Drink a whey protein shake after a workout. Not as a meal substitute.
-Drink water only.

Lift weights 3 times per week, one muscle group per session.
E.G. Monday - Back and Biceps. Wednesday - Chest and Triceps, Friday - Legs and Shoulders.

40 minutes of fasted low intensity cardio, 4-5 times per week.
or
20 minutes of non-fasted high intensity cardio, 3 times per week.

Try to keep cardio and weights sessions seperate. E.G Weights in the evening, cardio in the morning.

Stay strict and it'll fall off.

Something definitely worth me following or bits of it.

I have started going to the gym recently with the view of losing weight.
I have already started eating smaller meals, not the amount mentioned above, a few less.
I have subbed most of the crap I used to eat for some form of fruit instead.
I am drinking more water than before and generally trying to stear away junk / crap food.

I am wanting to lose about a stone or so, maybe a little more eventually, but I want to lose atleast something before I go on holiday in september.

[wellswells]

Big thing with these sort of rules which you need to adhere too, and with your workouts as well, is they apply now! right now. Too many people will think, 'OK cool, i'll start on Monday'. Or 'next week I'm going to get fit'. It should be 'no, i'll do it now'.

Same applies if you have been hitting gym mon, weds, fri and sunday. Then your on holiday for mon-weds. Its easy to think 'i'll wait for monday to come back around'. But you shouldnt, you should just get straight back on the same routine.

[SeriousSam]

The key to fat burning is moderate exercise for long periods so even once you use up your immediate energy reserves you don't enter oxygen debt and burn carbohydrates instead. Now not everone has the time for this so there are other ways, with one being to minimise the amount of energy reserves you have to start.

I usually do this on a Sunday and have at maximum one piece of fruit for breakfast, usually a banana, to stimulate the digestive system. I'll then go about my usual routine till early afternoon at which point I'll go to the gym. After a good stretch its the usual CV routine but keeping heartrate at about 60% to (a) avoid oxygen debt and (b) minimise stress on the body as if you push it you will "hit the wall".

A final point I'd make is that if you are going to play impact sports like rugby then a certain amount of bodyfat is good (as well as in your diet), especially intramuscular as it helps to reduce the risk of injuries. Last time I checked the lower suggested limit was 12%, but that may have changed. From personal experience when I played being at 9% (I was going out with a long distance runner at the time so if I wanted to see her I had to go running a lot ) hurt a darn sight more the next day than when at 16-17%, though I was bulkier as well so that may have a bearing. Its something I'd definately read up on or seek advice on.

[SiM]

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a...imize_fat_loss

[PeteSmith]

Reducing the amount of bread i eat is the hardest thing for me, i always have a sandwich for lunch (wholemeal bread) and usually some bread with my evening meal to bulk it out. I know i should have smaller meals more often but it's finding the time as always.

[SammEl]

What's wrong with eating wholemeal bread for carbs?

Beans and oats are better, but there is no need to say "You cannot eat bread" if you need a quick carb snack.

[muppet_hat]

Another thing you should definately try is lowering your rests between sets. Bring a stop watch or a watch with you so you can keep track. I'm currently trying to bulk up slowly, as I do not have a partner at the gym, so I can only do it the slow way + I'm too scared about injuring myself by going all out; I'd rather play safe. Anyway, I keep my rests usually under a minute between sets.

I do remember when I was trying to get fit, I'd keep my rests between sets to 30 seconds. Try doing a pyramid scheme with your weights. FYI: a pyramid work out is for example: start with 40 pounds for dumbell press for your first set. 2nd set up to 50 pounds. 3rd set up to 60 pounds. and on and on. usually I increase with the 1st 3 sets. On the 4th set It's the peak weight (or the weight I'm comfortable with). Sets 4,5,6 should consist of the same 'peak' weight, and then the last 2-3 sets should be lowered to a weight with higher reps. The last few sets (cool down sets), should include higher reps with lower weights than the 'peak' sets, but they should not be lower than the warm up sets.
Do 6-9 sets of 10-15 reps on each set.

I hope that makes sense?

[shaneyp]

A nice cheap option that I've been using, as I too am trying to loose body fat is I wear a black bin liner (just make it into a shirt that just go over the shoulders) this will increase the amount of sweat just like a sweat-suit but much cheaper my body fat was 19% 3 months ago - I'm now down to 15% so its working - not bad for a bit of rubbish ey

[Gfinch]

What you do is eat half of what you already do. My dad did this and he lost 2stone in 7 weeks. Just eat half!