Q&A for: 28-Mar-07
2092. Q:
How much protein should a 137 pounder get?
A:
For a physically active person, up to 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily can be beneficial. If you are specifically looking to build muscle and/or to lose fat, then you will gain benefit from even more -- up to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily.
2093. Q:
I have a question I’ve wanted an answer to for a long time – if two people eat the same amount (of food and food types) and do the same amount of weight lifting and cardio could they still end with different physiques and body fat percentages. Are people naturally fat or naturally muscular or is it just that they eat and train more or less than other people?
A:
Absolutely, a person's genetics can influence the body composition as much as diet and exercise. Some people are naturally predisposed to having lean physiques, some to easily store fat, and some to become muscular. However it is important to keep in mind that even the least 'genetically lucky' people can make tremendous progress towards their personal fitness goals and get themselves into excellent shape, if not quite magazine cover model level.
2095. Q:
I climb alot of stairs and walk steep hills around my neighborhood, but have noticed that my butt is only bigger(firmer) but it wasn't small to start with. Have I only added muscle to the fat? And how can I trim that down?
A:
You probably did build up some leg and butt muscle with all the walking, but losing the extra fat will take more work. First thing to realize is that just because you use butt muscles doesn't mean you'll lose butt fat -- just like doing thousands of crunches will not in any way guarantee loss of stomach fat. While exercise is good and you will burn some calories through it unless you pay attention to your diet and lose weight, that butt fat is not going anywhere. You must watch what and how much you eat, and in addition to cardio exercise like walking you would do well to do some weight training. By losing weight you will lose fat, including that troublesome butt fat. Please read this for details on how to get started.
2096. Q:
.will not eatting enough make your boobs smaller or not grow as fast
A:
If you are a teenage guy, don't worry about your 'man boobs' -- they will naturally grow smaller as you get past 17-18 years of age. Instead make sure that what you get plenty of physical activity and eat natural nutritious foods and not sweets and junk.
For anyone, guy or girl, if you are eating too much now and are overweight, then yes, eating less is a good idea and it will reduce breast size. But if your weight is normal, don't worry about eating less -- instead focus on eating right: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, nuts, seeds, and other natural foods. Pass on pizza, chips, ice cream and other junk.
2097. Q:
How to loose chest fat?
A:
Please read this article.
2098. Q:
Best exercise to get rid of man boobs.
A:
There is no one exercise because to get rid of man boobs requires losing overall body fat which in turn requires a comprehensive whole-body training program and good diet. The single best exercise is probably the squat, but you could do much better by putting together a complete weight training program. Please read this article to get started.
2099. Q:
how mach cardioviscular fitness should somebody my age do every week
.
A:
You didn't tell me your age, but for just about everyone, it's a good idea to spend at least 1 hour per week engaged in moderate or vigorous physical activity and most people can benefit from up to 5 hours or even more. Note that 'vigorous' is relative to you -- what's moderate activity to a fit person may be vigorous activity to an out-of-shape person. So find activities that are physically challenging to you and spend at least one hour on week engaged in them.
2101. Q:
i'm 4 foot 7 inches. I weigh 73 pounds. Is that good or bad?
A:
Your height and weight are perfectly normal for late pre-teen or early teen years. Good job!
2103. Q:
i was wondering if it is possible to lose about half a stone (7 lbs) in about two weeks - a month. i want to lose weight before my sister's wedding and i'm looking for some diet and exercise tips you might have, thanks
A:
Absolutely! I normally recommend losing weight a little slower than that, but if you can allow a month to lose 7 pounds, that should be perfectly fine. If all you care about is these 7 pounds, then it shouldn't take much -- simply reduce the portions you eat, cut out all fried and oily foods and junk and sweets, and take up some form of physical activity -- walking/jogging/running is the easiest activity for most people. Between eating less (and healthier) and new physical activity you'll find that losing 7 pounds in a month is easy.
If you decide that you want more substantial fat loss, check out my fat loss article for a comprehensive approach to long-term sustainable fat loss. Good luck!
2104. Q:
Hi Mike... I am trying to improve my diet because it just doesn’t seem to be working for me. My diet is basically this. In the morning I eat 1/2 cup of oats with some cottage cheese and egg whites. For midmorning snack usually a cup of beans with 8 ounces of chicken. For lunch eight ounces of chicken with about a cup of rice. The fourth meals I usually split up because it is right before my workout. For this meal I will usually have some more oats and maybe some peanuts. After a workout I will usually have peanuts and chicken and broccoli and cheese. At night I do tend to eat more than during the day simply because eating a lot during the day slows me down and I am very busy. In the last part of the day I usually end up eating just fats and protein (mostly chicken and tuna and nuts with lots of green veggies such as broccoli or home salad w/no dressing). I am still stuck at about ten to twelve percent body fat. I east about 2600 calories a day with around 90 grams of fat 180 grams of carbs and 250 grams of protein. I limit my 'cheat” days to about once a month where I will have like a chipotle burrito or some pizza. I am 23 about 5'7 and 155 lbs. Thanks for your help Mike.
A:
Your diet looks good and you're obviously in great shape already -- congrats! The main thing to realize is that somewhere around 10-12% body fat making further progress in body composition becomes VERY hard for most people and you've likely hit that point now. There are some who can blow through all the way to 8% body fat without a problem but most people are simply not like that. Making further progress will be hard and will come very slowly.
As I said, your diet looks very good already, especially as you said given your busy schedule. 'Cheating' once a month won't hurt you, so that's not an issue either. My usual advice in situation like this, when you've stopped making progress on a cut, is to stop the cut and go on a mini-bulk of maybe 10 pounds to gain new muscle and new fat-burning potential before restarting on a cut. Of course the key is to keep the bulk as slow and clean as possible -- keep your existing diet and add more clean carbs, especially in the morning and before and after your workout and maybe a bit more heathy fats. Allow at least 2 weeks to gain one pound of weight (faster weight gain will just lead to unwanted fat). You will gain some fat along the way, but you will also be in a much better position to restart the cut. After one bulk-cut cycle you'll be back to your present weight but hopefully with slightly less fat and slightly more muscle. It won't be a dramatic difference, but as I said, making progress when you are already in great shape is a very slow process. Good luck!
2105. Q:
I live in an upstairs apartment so I am having difficulty finding a good cardio workout without making too much noise. Any suggestions?
A:
Shadow boxing in place in front of a mirror while lightly bouncing on your feet can be an excellent cardio workout, depending on intensity. It will primarily target the upper body but also work your core and legs a bit. Then to finish off, do some bodyweight crunches and squats -- they are not true cardio exercises, but as you get good at them and can do dozens and dozens in a row without rest they'll start to have cardio-like effect.
There are also a number of exercises you can do lying on the floor. Lying on either side, front, or back and raising and lowering straight arms and legs in various ways all will provide you with aerobic (cardio) benefits and in some cases unaerobic (resistance training) as well. You can use a variety of these exercises to finish off your main shadowboxing-crunches-squats workout.
2106. Q:
Would you recommend working out during an illness, such as a cold?
A:
Absolutely not! First get well, then get back to working out.
2107. Q:
I'm 16 years old and I run alot of long distance. I do track and I used to work out more and am in the process of getting back to weights. Is it alright to take Whey Protein for a kid my age and/or will it have side effects later on in life? Thanks alot.
A:
Whey protein is one of the few worthwhile and proven safe supplements. It should have no negative side-effects for you, as long as you balance it with a healthy overall diet and don't go crazy on it (couple scoops per day is fine). Some parents rightly have a lot of reservations about supplements in general, so you may want to have a talk with them about it and maybe even visit your doctor or nutritionist if they have concerns. But whey is probably the safest supplement you can get -- it is a by-product of making cheese and has been around for quite a while as told in the Little Miss Muppet nursery rhyme.
2108. Q:
I have been reading an article that says a diet 40% protein 40% carbs and 20% fats is best for bodybuilding. Is this true? Also, what hapens when you eat too much protein? Does it get stored as fat?
A:
Somewhere around those ratios is what most people recommend. I usually suggest 30% protein, 40% carbs, 30% fats for building muscle (bulking) and 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fats for losing fat (cutting). But you can see that all the ratios are pretty close to one another and a few percent one way or another won't make any difference.
As far as eating too much protein... Your body does not easily convert protein into fat (unlike carbs) so more likely than being stored as fat, it will just get peed out. That's another reason why you need to drink a lot of water when on a high-protein diet -- you need to make it easy for your body to flush out excess protein.
2109. Q:
What is the purpose of 'cycling' calories and does it work? I have read of the need to do this on a coupld of fitness websites. Something about not letting your body get used to a certain calorie level. ..
A:
The idea behind calorie cycling, as it is usually applied on a cut, is to give an occasional metabolism boost to your body by having a high-calorie (usually high-carb) day. I personally have not seen any benefit from short-term calorie cycling (changing calorie levels daily or every few days), so I don't recommend it. I do think that going through longer-term bulk-cut cycles lasting a few months each is the path to long-term body composition changes. But once you are on a bulk (or on a cut), I recommend you stay at the same calorie level until your weight stops changing and it's time to increase (or decrease, for a cut) calories slightly.
As with most things, if you are patient enough it may be worth trying both approaches and seeing which one seems to work better for you.
2116. Q:
I lost about 30 lbs from running, and I think I have those unwanted, ugly man boobs. I run and work out frequently, if not almost everyday, but I can never seem to lose those chest fats.
I think it's my diet, but I don't know. I try to lower the calory intake, but...
I go out to eat maybe once a week, but is that too risky?
Oh, I'm an 18-year-old guy and weigh about 153 lbs. (my weight varies from 152-154 lbs) Thanks!
A:
At 18 your 'man boobs' are probably still disappearing naturally, so you need to be a little more patient with it. You also should keep in mind that some chest fat is normal does not mean you have 'man boobs'. I am not sure what your height is but if you are 5 feet 8 inches or taller your weight is normal and you can't have that much chest fat. Aside from that, it is possible that your diet could use help, but I can't help you there unless you give me your daily diet in detail. Going out once a week shouldn't matter much unless you absolutely load up on junk then (like a triple cheeseburger with large fries and a milk shake).
2117. Q:
Hi Mike, I have been dieting and excercising for three months now. I dropped two sizes and about 12 inches off my waist, my problem now is my lower stomach. It has went down a lot but it seems so hard to get rid of this last bit of fat. What else can I do for my lower stomach?
A:
The better shape you are in, the harder it is to keep losing fat, so what you are experiencing is normal. The last bit of fat is the hardest to lose. It sounds like you've made great progress (congrats!) so as long as it's working, even if slowly, just keep on doing what you have been doing. When the progress stops completely, it'll be time to have more comprehensive approach to both diet and exercise. If you haven't already, read my fat loss article and the articles it links to and start making changes in your diet and routine. As I said, the better shape you are in, the harder you'll have to work to get better. Good luck!
2118. Q:
i am losing weight with my exercise programme but find my body fat % has not changed, i eat healthy also. what might be causing this?
A:
It's very unlikely that your body fat is not changing if you are losing weight, unless EITHER you are already in terrific shape and further progress is very difficult OR you have an absolutely horrible diet program with no exercise that causes you to lose more muscle than fat.
If you are in fact in great shape already (12% body fat or lower), then scroll up to read my response to #2104. If that's not the case and (I assume) your program is not a bad one, then the most likely explanation is that your body fat measurements are not accurate. Body fat percentage is EXTREMELY difficult to measure accurately, even when done by a professional. If you are using one of those handheld body fat devices or scales, then the measurement is almost worthless.
The only truly reliable methods of body fat measure are hydrostatic (where you get submerged in water) and DEXA (where you get X-ray'd). If you measured your body fat in any other way then don't worry too much about the numbers. Instead judge your progress by your appearence, how tight or loose your old clothes fit, and by your weight loss.
2119. Q:
Mike, I recently spoke to an individual who said she was told by qualified trainers and instructers that she should not eat after a work out, as this will cause the body to feed on the food rather than its stores of fat. I am pretty sure from reading your Q&As that this is flawed, but I was unable to articulate an argument better than 'Well Mike says it aint so.' Please inform me how her argument is flawed (assuming of course that it is). Thank you.
A:
I assume that she is trying to lose fat/weight... My argument for eating after the workout is similar to my argument against doing cardio on an empty stomach (see Q&A #159) -- if you are going to eat, say, 2000 calories in either case, then you should try to eat some or even most of those calories at the times when your body is least likely to store fat, such as first thing in the morning or after a workout.
Your body will need to burn X number of calories in any case and you will eat Y number of calories in any case. You might as well spend more of those Y calories to feed your body at the times when you know it will NOT store fat, when it needs nutrition for the muscles, and when it will raise your metabolism.
2120. Q:
hi mike, i have been resting for almost 3 weeks without going to the gym, but i still do go for my soccer trainings maybe 3 times a week. Is it okay to maintain my muscle?
A:
As long as you don't lose weight, your muscle mass should be fine. In addition, soccer will help preserve lower body muscle. If you lose weight, your will lose muscle mass -- that's unavoidable -- so you should focus on eating enough to not lose weight. In either case your weight training strength will go down somewhat when you stop training, but it will come right back in a week or two once you get back in the gym.
2121. Q:
Hi Mike, I was wondering about something. I've been doing your no-equipment program for weight-loss and I noticed that I weighed in at 221 about a week ago, and then yesterday I wayed myself again and I weighed 230 again, which was the weight I started at. It's disheartening when you see that you haven't really accomplished much. I doubt I'd add on that much muscle in a couple of weeks, so I'm wondering what's going on. Thanks.
A:
Sorry to hear about your setback, but don't despair! There is a few things that could be going on... First of all, it's basically impossible to gain 9 pounds of fat in a week -- you'd need to eat around 7000 calories daily to accomplish that! So what happened?
One possibility is that you weighed yourself in the morning on empty stomach when you weighed in at 221 and in the evening on full stomach when you weighed in at 230. It's not at all unusual for your weight to move up and down 5+ pounds during the day with just regular everyday diet. 9 pounds would be a big change, but not impossible. I recommend always weighing yourself first thing in the morning after using the bathroom, so your measurements are consistent.
Another possibility is that your diet was different in the day of or before the 230 pound weigh-in that significantly increased retained water weight. 9 extra pounds of retained water also seems like a lot, but quite possible.
The most likely explanation is somewhere in between all those -- you may have gained a pound or two max during the week, which means you ate more than usual which means your body had extra retained water. All of that could've easily added up to 9 extra pounds. And if you weighed yourself at different times of the day, then that makes the explanation even easier.
So don't get disheartened -- even in worst case scenario you may have regained two pounds after losing nine. Two steps back after 9 steps forward is not that bad. Now you just need to get back on the wagon and keep at it! If your diet changes a lot from day-to-day that's something you may want to try and work on -- check out my nutrition article if you haven't already. Good luck!
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