Q&A for: 23-Nov-05
1088. Q:
How to stop binge eating?
A:
It's going to be mostly up to you, but you can help yourself greatly by having a good healthy diet. It may even help, at least in the beginning, to plan out your daily meals in advance. Make sure you eat AT LEAST 3 complete meals a day, don't ever skip breakfasts, eat enough to keep you weight constant or very slowly decreasing. If you undereat for first half of the day (like skipping breakfast and having a tiny lunch), then you're setting yourself up to binge at night. Eat LOTS of veggies and fruits -- they are healthy and filling and will keep you from binging. Have lots of veggies and fruits on hand at home, so you can always include them in your meals and snack on them in between if needed. Do NOT keep foods that you typically binge on at home -- they're most likely very unhealthy anyway and have no place in a good diet. Besides those steps, resolve to stop binging and do your best to stick with it. If you binge one night, that's OK, just move on and promise to yourself to learn from it and get better. It may take a long time, but you can most certainly do it!
1089. Q:
Q 1086 :I have never gained anything from weight training plus my fitness instructor told me its not the way to lose fat.The program that caused me to lose 18 pounds in 6 months is the same program that caused me not to lose any weight in the last 9 months.My body does not want to lose weight quickly anymore so even with an improved program I might lose at the most one pound per month which means it might take me about 20 months to reach my goal. I dont gain weight easily so losing it is very hard also.I only started gaining weight when I became unemployed and I still am unemployed. Once I start working 40 hours a week again I wont even need to go to the gym anymore.the weight will come off naturally.working 40 hours a week burns more calories than going to the gym 4-5 hours a week.
A:
If you found what works for you, great, stick with it. I disagree with your instructor and I know something had to be very wrong with either your program or your diet during those 9 months of no progress, but it's a moot point now. Congrats on finding the program that allows you to make progress!
1090. Q:
even though I stopped eating two chocolat bars a day I havent lost anyweight. In a book titled :total nutrition from the mount sinai school of medicine it said that there are studies that show that skinny people consume more sugar than obese people.Most fat people I know never eat chocolat.I've been told that chocolat is not as fattening as other junk food because it contains caffeine.I'll try my chocolat free diet for 4 months.if i dont lose any weight I might as well go back to it.
A:
There's absolutely no guarantee that dropping chocolate from your diet all by itself will do anything. If you don't control your diet, then you might well end up dropping chocolate but eating more crackers or something else and not lose any weight and possibly even gain some. You can't change one small aspect of your diet and expect it to make a difference if you don't control the rest of it. Please read my nutrition article to learn how to structure your ENTIRE diet for successful weight and fat loss.
1091. Q:
I noticed that my weight has not lowered even though I reduced my daily calorie intake by 350 calories.So I might as well go back to eating those 350 calories,right? I was not gaining weight before the 350 calorie reduction.
A:
Your body will adjust pretty fast to small up or down changes in caloric intake like that. Plus 350 calories coming from one type of food may have a very different impact from 350 calories coming from another type of food -- if you cut calories like that, take them out of mainly carb-rich foods like sweets or bread or rice or pasta.
Besides that, dieting alone is not a very good approach to losing weight and fat. However combined with exercise, especially weight training it will become much more effective. I describe how to successfully lose weight here.
1092. Q:
1074, i was talkin about that before too, he doesnt like where you have to find the day then the question.. i see pro's and cons with both ways, it just takes getting used to i think. however, ur new idea i think it will become a little bit too confusing. i think you should make more tabs on the top, because not many people will think to look at your fitness guide to find some of the stuff you got hidden in there. like make a frequently asked questions tab (FAQ) and like a Nutrition and Weighttraining plans tabs.. that would be convenient
A:
I'll definitely think about your suggestions, thanks! I certainly need a FAQ at least. I've been pretty busy lately, so I can't promise when I'll be able to do this, but again, thanks for the feedback and ideas!
1093. Q:
Mike, ive posted a couple times about my shoulder. i think its my rotor cuff, but i do like stretches where i circle my arm around slowly, and i always hear my arm crack. my dad is letting me try is glucosamine if joint is problem, what about like calcium pills or something just to give me a little extra calcium. im trying to encourage my parents to take me to a physical therapist because its been like 2 months now
A:
Rest it!!! Stretching, glucosamine and whatever other supps are not going to do anything if you don't let your shoulder rest and recover. It may take weeks, but the more you work it while it's injured the worse it's going to get and the longer it'll take to recover. Don't do any exercise that involves the shoulder muscles (which covers almost all chest, shoulder, and tricep exercises) and maybe even skip all upper body training -- especially if you feel discomfort in the shoulder while doing them. And do try to convince your parents about seeing the therapist. But again, above all, let it rest!
1094. Q:
Hello there.I would like ask some things.I have started recently some bulk up.I am ok in the way i look now but i wanna just take some kgs(4-5kgs if possible over time and slowly cause i dont care about time)of muscles so i can look better.I do this for 2 and half months now and i have noticed some things.
-Since i started this i feel more..sleepy during the day.I sleep ok at night but during the day and around noon i have to sleep again for 2 hours cause i feel very tired.This usually happens especially after the weight training i have at morning.Is it ok?
-I eat large meals every 3 hours.Some times i work at night so it happens to sleep in the morning after.During my working hours i continue eat every 3 hours(only good foods) but in smaler quantities.In general i eat every 3 hours as soon as iam awake.Is it ok?Also,sometimes i dont feel like eating but i do it and other times i feel it when the time to eat finally comes.Why does this happen?
-When i started this i was feeling too exhausted after the workout but now i feel too..energetic.How can this be explained?
-What is better?To do weight training 3 times a week 1,5 to 2 hours a day or break up ur routine and do every day your program 1 hour?How much is ok to do your weight training?I usually do it for 1,5 to 2 hours but i feel ok after.I do it 3 times a week.
A:
I'm going to answer your questions one by one...
Feeling tired and sleeping a lot is pretty normal. It's an indication that you're working your body hard and it wants more rest. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep per day and more if you can afford the time. Remember to take at least one week completely off from gym every two months or so to help your body recover.
Your eating approach is good. If you know ahead of time you'll be staying up late you can stretch your between-meal intervals a little longer (to maybe 3 hours 30 minutes) and also eat a little more overall. What you are doing is perfectly good too. As to why sometimes you feel hungry, sometimes you don't, it's really very individual and will depend on your situation that particular day -- outside stress and happenings will affect your appetite day to day. But the longer you'll stay on this very regular diet, the more your body will get used to it with you starting to get hungry just in time for the next meal.
It's probably just because your body has adjusted to the new regimen. In general your overall psychological state should be much elevated thanks to exercise, so feeling energetic is just part of it. It may also be that you weren't eating enough before and have improved your diet now, giving you enough energy to last through the workout.
I prefer smaller, more frequent workouts because after 45-60 minutes of hard workout I usually don't have much energy left. Altogether, anywhere around 5 total hours per week of weight training is a good upper limit for most people. So, five one-hour workouts throughout the week, for example. But if the 1.5-2 hour workouts 3 days a week are working for you (and it sounds like they are), then just stick with that schedule. If you feel like trying something else later, check out sample programs in my weight training article.
1095. Q:
diet pills
A:
Check out Q&A #812
1096. Q:
how many calories in rice
A:
Type in 'rice' in the textbox next to 'Find Food' button in upper right and then click the 'Find Food' button. I have a database of over 5000 foods with very detailed nutrition information for each.
1097. Q:
Hey mike, i have sushi maby 1 or 2 times a week but when i do have it i eat like 14 peices, is this unhealthy, is sushi good for me?
A:
That's nothing to worry about. The less-than-perfect part of sushi is the white rice but having 14 pieces just once or twice a week is not going to harm your progress. If you can and like, eat more sashimi and less sushi. But even what you're doing now is nothing to worry about. There're a lot worse foods than sushi out there :)
1098. Q:
Are you goind to respond to anymore questions?
A:
Yes, I most definitely will! But I will have holiday breaks too :) so just keep checking in even if you don't see any new answers for a few days.
1099. Q:
are there any wieght gaining formulas out there that has low cholesterol? I am getting tx for high cholesterol but would like to add a weight gainer/high protein supplement to help gain a few pounds. I have been eating a lot but I am finding it to be very expensive and time consuming to buy and fix chicken and beef in the quanity I need to get 3000 cals a day. Would a weight gainer be a good short duration supplemtent to put on 5 pounds or so.
A:
Commercial weight gainers are a poor choice of bulking food, as I explain in my Protein article. In that same article I give a simple recipe for a home-made weight gainer that's better (and cheaper!) than any commercial weight gainer you can buy: whey + oats!
My recommendation for a great cheap whey protein powder is at the top of the page under 'got protein?' :)
1100. Q:
can you get to much protien in one day?
A:
Check out Q&A #435
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