Q&A for: 21-Sep-05
536. Q:
how can i get and stay motivated?
A:
That's something you'll have to find in yourself. I can offer some things to think about that may make it easier for you:
- Answer whether being healthy and fit will make you happier?
- Fully realize that you can achieve it.
- Remember that you're doing it for yourself, not for anyone else.
- Remember that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't expect miracles in just a couple of weeks or a couple of months. You making life-long changes for the better, not looking for some quick fixes.
- Take pride and joy in all the little accomplishments along the way while keeping the big picture in mind.
- Don't ever ever ever get down on yourself, get discouraged because of (perceived) lack of progress or because you broke the routine. Just pick yourself up and get back on track. Always be optimistic about yourself now and about where you're going.
- If you can, surround yourself with people who support and encourage you. But this should not be necessary -- again, remember you're doing it for yourself, not for them!
Good luck to you!
537. Q:
Is eating packaged sunflower seeds a bad thing if I wanted to lose fat?
A:
If it's oil-roasted sunflower seeds, then throw them out. However, raw or dry-roasted sunflower seeds can certainly be a part of a healthy diet, including for fat loss. The thing to remember is that you need to have a balanced diet overall and, ideally, to have balanced each meal. So your goal is to roughly get the same amount of calories from protein, fats, and carbs. Sunflower seeds are roughly 85% fats by calories, 10% protein, 5% carbs which is, of course, not balanced. So if you eat them, eat them in moderation. For example, they would be a great complement to a chicken (protein) + salad or other veggies (carbs). They can also make a passable snack when there's simply no way for you to have a complete meal. But remember to stay within overall calorie guidelines for the day -- one cup of kernels (without the hulls) has a whopping 800 calories, so limit snacks to less than a handful. If you're not sure how many calories you should be eating in one day, fill out Mike's Fitness Questionnaire and see its suggested daily diet.
538. Q:
does dextrose powder help in gaining weight?
A:
It'll help you gain lots and lots of fat. Dextrose is the more 'sugary' part of sugar (the other part is fructose) and really should not be part of anyone's diet. It is widely used in 'weight gainers' (see my Protein Supplements article) because it does put on weight quickly but that weight is going to be far more fat than muscle if you rely too heavily on it. A much healthier and more effective way to put on quality weight in muscle is to eat all the healthy foods, but simply eat A LOT of them so you gain weight. Fill out Mike's Fitness Guide and specify 'Gain Muscle' as your goal to see a sample bulking diet without any dextrose.
539. Q:
What is the best cardio workout? Which one is more productive for burning, toning etc? Running, biking or jump roping.
A:
For cardio I like HIIT (see near the end of my Fat Loss article). HIIT is an approach, not a specific exercise -- you can do HIIT on a treadmill, bike, swimming, jumping rope, etc. Whether you do HIIT or regular constant-pace cardio, I like swimming for cardio because it uses your whole body and has zero impact on your joints and bones (unlike, say, running). Biking, rollerblading, and jumping rope (when done properly) are also lower-impact choices compared to running.
In the end my advice for cardio is to do what you enjoy most and are most likely to stick with. Unless you're training for an endurance event, cardio should be the smaller part of your exercise program with weight training taking the bigger role since weight training is a much more effective fat-burner, and muscle-, bone-, and strength-builder. You shouldn't be running an hour every day (more like 2-3 hours/week max in a well-rounded program to lose fat) so even running shouldn't have any adverse effect on your joints. So pick whatever you enjoy and are most likely to stick with. And don't forget about the diet and weight training if you want best lasting results.
540. Q:
WHAT IS A MORE PRODUCTIVE BIKING RUNNING ORJUMP ROPING
A:
Jumping rope will generally burn more calories faster, but as I said in Q&A #539, best cardio is whatever you enjoy and will stick with.
541. Q:
i have a question for you i need to lose 20 lbs. that i gained after my pregnancy and i need to know if taking 1 pill of farenheit pills in the morning anf 1 pill for lunch and then at night i weight train for 30 minutes after i finish i drink a muscle milk shake.
A:
I recommend you skip the pills and instead focus on your weight training and overall diet. All the pills in the world won't help you if you have a poor diet and conversely if you have a good fat-burning diet along with weight training then you'll have absolutely no need for pills!
It's very good that you're doing weight training. Hopefully it involves whole-body exercises like squats, lunges, presses and rows and hopefully you're using truly heavy weights that you can only lift around 10 times in good form before exhausting your muscles -- that kind of heavy whole-body weight training is most beneficial for burning fat. Doing light dumbbell curls and shoulder presses alone will do very little for you -- you've got to exercise all your big muscles and exercise them hard!
If you're worried that you'll build too much muscle exercising this way, then relax: it won't happen AS LONG AS YOU'RE LOSING WEIGHT! So the second part of your routine will require a fat-burning diet that will make sure that you're losing weight and not gaining it. For a complete suggested program, both diet and exercise, fill out Mike's Fitness Guide. You'll get a very detailed diet suggestion there. You don't have to follow that diet 100%, of course, but you should keep its spirit by keeping large number of small complete meals, substituting veggies in place veggies, lean meats or fish or chick in place of the like, etc. You should also drink lots of water throughout the day.
Finally, about Muscle Milk -- it's an OK product, but there's nothing special about it that you can't get from regular foods (as you can see in the suggested diet). I would recommend getting plain pure whey protein powder that's nearly all protein (unlike Muscle Milk which is half fat and also got some carbs) and use whey as a supplement along with any meal where you're not getting enough protein. It's not a huge deal however, and if you like Muscle Milk, you can continue using it.
So cover those basics: good fat-burning diet + heavy whole-body weight training and you'll lose those 20 pounds no problems within 4 months or so. More importantly, weight training will preserve your existing muscle mass so the fat will not come back in the future. And forget about the pills and other quick fixes. Good luck!
542. Q:
My left arm is stronger than my right arm (at least I can do more reps with my left) due to carrying my son around all day. Should I challenge the left arm by doing more reps or do the same amount for both arms?
A:
It's more of a personal choice. If you don't mind the difference and just want to have maximum strength possible in both arms, then do more reps for the left, as you said. If you'd rather be more symmetrical and even out the two arms (which is what I would choose, probably along with most people), then do the same number of reps for both arms (so the left doesn't get as tired at the end of the set).
543. Q:
How much weight would I want to aim to lose in order to drop say 2 pant sizes? I'm not sure if it's relevant but I am a tall and slender female. I wear size 7/8 in pants and want to fit into size 5/6 or maybe a little smaller.
A:
That's unfortunately not my area of expertise :) I'm guessing it's about 2-3 inches difference which corresponds to maybe around 15 pounds. However like I said, this is much more of a guess than a knowledgeable answer.
You should also keep in mind that it's possible, with a good diet and a good workout program, to lose a couple of inches with only minimal weight loss. So I'd rather put it in terms of months and say it may take 3-4 months to do this right. 'Right' means making sure your muscle mass and metabolism stay normal and guard against all that fat coming back. It's certainly possible to go on a crash diet and lose 15 pounds within a month, but it's pretty much guaranteed to come back quickly afterwards. Slow and steady wins the race here.
544. Q:
Will you tell me if my diet & workout routine is on the right track to losing about 8 pounds in 4 weeks or so? Weights: Monday and Thursday-shoulders, upper back, biceps, triceps, chest. Tuesday and Friday-abs (tuesday only), quads, hams, calves, lower back, glutes. All with weights heavy enough to do 6-15 reps 3 sets each. Diet is: meal 1...1/4 c oats with 1/2 banana. Meal 2: 1 can tuna fish on multi grain low carb wheat bread with 1 tbsp horseradish. Meal 3: 1 c. stir-fry vegetables or other green vegetables with 1/2 c. lowfat cottage cheese. Meal 4: USUALLY bbq chicken or chicken, mushrooms, and provolone with side of vegetables. But I admit I sometimes cheat on meal 4 (dinner) since my husband is not on the same diet as me. Thank you in advance!! I love your site!
A:
Your weight training routine looks very very good! However I'd say you're trying to lose weight just a little too fast and correspondingly your diet though is a little on the light side. I would recommend making 4-6 pound weight loss your goal for these 4 weeks, adding a good source of protein to breakfast (for example: a scoop of whey protein, half a cup of cottage cheese, or 1 egg + 2 egg whites omelette), and trying to split the dinner into two meals, so that you have a smaller regular dinner and another small meal of dinner leftovers (make it veggie-heavy) before bed.
On the whole though, you're definitely on the right track and may even be able to lose those 8 pounds. It's just that unless you're badly overweight a rapid weight loss like that will cost you some muscle tissue and cap your metabolism a bit which means you won't be able to keep losing fat for long and will become vulnerable to some fat coming back. So again, I'd recommend eating a little more (especially for breakfast) and being happy with 1 pound/week or so weight loss pace.
545. Q:
I gained about 20 pounds having my son and lost it all in about 4 months from breastfeeding alone (I was not eating the best or exercising). I know that the body burns major calories to produce the milk but do you think some of the calories burned might have come from muscle?
A:
Chances are, yes, some of those calories came at the cost of muscle since you didn't exercise at the time which would've 'encouraged' your body to hang on to muscle a little more. However I wouldn't be too concerned with it because you did gain 20 pounds of fat in preparation for this period, so the majority of the lost weight should've been that fat. Whatever muscle was lost and whatever fat was gained you can certainly rectify the situation now with an exercise routine and a good diet.
546. Q:
Research shows that a single set of 12 repetitions with the proper weight can build muscle just as efficiently as three sets of the same exercise.What is your view? How can doing 3 times the work not produce better results? It does not make sense.
A:
The findings of those studies are being quoted too liberally. The studies in question were looking at the progress made by absolute beginners who have never weight trained.. For them, indeed, single- and multi-set programs returned similar results, though I believe even in their case, multi-set programs produced greater strength gains. However the most important point is that once you start looking past the absolute beginners and to intermediate weightlifters, there's absolutely no question that multi-set programs on average produced greater gains in strength and greater desired changes in body composition.
That is not to slam single-set training entirely. It has its place in a well-designed periodized program. Single-set phase can be used for 'peaking' -- when one is training with 1-2 rep sets and lifting maximum weights. It can also be used as a break to prevent overtraining after a partilarly intense high-volume training phase. Finally, some people really do respond to very low-volume training better. It's a job of a good personal trainer to identify such a tendency in the trainee.
But on the whole, there's incontrovertible evidence that multi-set training on average produces greater results. Just keep in mind that more is not always better either: while 100 total heavy sets/week may give you good results it's quite likely that 200 sets/week will not only not give you good result but lead to overtraining, negative results, and injuries. Once again, a good trainer knows how to put together a good year-round program for the trainee to prevent both undertraining and overtraining and to keep them on pace for maximum results.
547. Q:
It's 9/21/05 and I weigh 168 lbs. I need to weigh at least 140 lbs. by 12/1/05. How many calories do I need to take in daily to make it happen? And I go to Curves 3 times a week. Is that enough, or should I use my treadmill? or a combination of both, alternating?
A:
You're trying to lose too much weight too fast. You only have about 10 weeks and trying to lose 28 pounds -- that's just too fast. What happens when you lose weight this fast is instead of losing fat your body starts burning muscle for energy. The result is that you lose maybe half fat and half muscle. That may not sound so bad but all that lost muscle, in combination with a restrictive diet, will absolutely kill your metabolism and almost guarantee that the fat will come back. This is by far the biggest reason why all the various fad diets fail!
So my advice to you is to adjust your expectations to a healthy weight loss phase which is about 1 pound/week. If you lose at this slow steady pace and do weight training at the same time, you can be sure that you'll be losing actual fat and not muscle. Such changes will be sustainable and lasting. So aim to lose no more than 15 pounds in these 10 weeks.
About your routine -- Curves is a good starting point for a beginner, but you can certainly do better, both in exercise and in the diet approach. I recommend you read through my Nutrition and Weight Training articles in the Articles section and also fill out the Fitness Guide there (specify 'Lose Fat' as your goal) to learn how to maximize both your diet and your training. In the meanwhile you can continue doing Curves, but as you learn more you'll probably want to consider changing up both your training program and your diet for maximum results. In either case, however, remember that fast weight loss is an illusion that doesn't last. Aim for slow steady 1 pound/week progress if you want it to last. Good luck!
548. Q:
i do weight training 3 days a week but the days except them i dont sleep at night but in the morning cause of my night work.Does this affect my progress to build some muscles?When i do weight training i sleep early at night these days.
A:
Rest and sleep are very important! That's when you actually build the muscles as your body repairs the damage done in the gym and puts in a little extra so your muscles will be ready for more punishment. So a regular sleep pattern is good and getting 7-8 hours/day is very important. It doesn't sound like you have too much choice in when you can sleep, so just make sure you get those 7-8 hours/day one way or another if at all possible. Also make sure your diet is good! If you're not sure, fill out Mike's Fitness Guide specifying 'Gain Muscle' for a diet suggestion.
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