Q&A for: 5-Nov-05
960. Q:
Mike, my parents are starting to get sick of me eating eggs every morning (591), what is something else i can sub for eggs like 2-3 times a week that is health w/ lots of protein?
A:
Sure, you can use cottage cheese. It d oesn't taste that great by itself, but throw in some strawberries or blueberries or slices of a banana. It's both very healthy and has lots of protein. A cup of cottage cheese + 1 banana will have more calories and more protein and more carbs than 2-3 eggs. Alternatively you can just use more of your whey protein for breakfast.
963. Q:
how do u lose butt fat?
A:
Same way as you lose any other kind of fat -- through a good diet and whole-body weight training. You can't lose fat JUST on your butt, but you can lose it over all of your body, butt included. Please read my weight loss article.
964. Q:
The owner of the gym i go measured many things on me(i dont know how we call this procedure)and told me that i burn 1800 calories per day (even if i dont do anything-basic metabolism) and i need to eat 3000 calories each day in order to keep my current weight.I do weight training 3 times a week.My question is:Should i eat more in order to bulk up and if so should i eat more during only the days of weight training or all days of the week?I feel i ll put fat on me if i eat more the days except of weight training.
A:
They probably measured your body fat percentage. A typical calculation for basal metabolism involves finding lean body mass (which is total weight minus the percentage of fat) and then allowing so many calories for each pound of lean mass. But anyway back to your question...
Unless you're already a pretty big guy, 3000 calories/day is quite a bit and may well be enough for you to start bulking. So I'd recommend starting at that level and seeing whether you start gaining weight. Your goal should be gaining about 1 pound every 2 weeks. If you gain much faster than that you'll be putting on a lot of fat. If you find that you don't gain weight (or even lose weight) at that level, then you can start increasing calories till you get to the 1-pound-every-2-weeks pace. I have 2 sample ready-made bulking diets: 2800 calories and 3300 calories. I suggest you start with 2800-calorie one, tweak it to your particular tastes and schedule. Then if and when you stop gaining weight, then you can upgrade to the 3300-calorie one.
Finally, I recommend you keep your diet the same every day, whether you work out or not on that day. Heavy weight lifting which you will do in order to bulk up 'burns' most energy during the recovery process, not during the actual workouts. And the recovery will be taking place around the clock, on your off-days as well as your workout days.
965. Q:
What is better?To take all the protein u need at one time per day or split it in 4-5 parts each day along with ur meals?Is it the same thing actually?Also,is it good to take whey protein without anything else?For example,before i sleep i dont wanna eat anything before 3 hours but i drink my protein alone without anything
A:
You most definitely should split your protein through a number of small meals during the day. I recommend figuring how many calories you need per day and then splitting them over at least 5 complete meals throughout the day, each with a good amount of protein, healthy carbs (veggies, fruits, whole grains), and healthy fats (olive oil, fish fat, nuts). And I recommend one of those complete meals be shortly before you go to bed. A good pre-bed meal would have light veggies for carbs and whatever sources of protein and fats (grilled chicken + olive oil, steak, salmon, etc). If you absolutely cannot have a complete meal, then a protein shake is a decent replacement, but besides convenience there's no advantage to having just the shake instead of a complete meal.
966. Q:
I have been really dedicated to jogging each morning for at least 20 minutes on the beach and up to an hour whilst having started a high protein low carb diet. When I did this diet 3 years ago I lost 2 kilos a week . This time I lost 2 kilos the firts week and the next week it came back. At first I thopught it was fluid because my period was due, but surely that would have meant my weight would maintain and not gain. Then I got my period and the 2 kilos is still there. This is so demotivating, doies muscle develop that quickely? I weigh 96 klios and am 6 ft.
A:
Good job on your program! The weight you gained back is most definitely NOT muscle. By itself a high-protein diet will not develop muscle, especially while low-carbing, especially for a woman. Most likely the weight you regained actually is mostly water, just like the 2 kilos you lost in the first week are also mostly water. Water weight loss is the biggest reason for initial weight losses on a high-protein, low-carb.
I can't give you much more diet advice without knowing the specifics of what you're eating now. However some common problems with high-protein diets include eating too little overall, eating too little carbs (veggies especially should not be limited, other than corn and potatoes), and eating too little fats. Read my Nutrition article. Any of these will cause your metabolism to shut down and fat-burning and weight loss along with it.
As to your training, it's great that you run but resistance exercise (weight training) is a better metabolism booster and fat-burner than cardio. Here's a workout at home program that requires no equipment. It'd be good if you can start following it in addition to your running. Do the best you can with this program. In conjunction with a good diet, it will help keep your metabolism up and fat-burning going.
967. Q:
Is it possible to put on u 10 pounds of pure muscles in just 3 weeks?In one site is referred that there is a way to this by only eating 3 times a day and not using any supplements at all.Is that possible by any means?
A:
Nope, sorry, there's absolutely no way that's going to happen. For an average person gaining even 1 pound of actual muscle per week would be extremely good. If you are regaining muscle that you once had but since lost, then it can happen faster. But if this is new muscle, then even 3 pounds of muscle in those 3 weeks would be extremely good and would certainly require gaining 1-2 pounds of fat along with the muscle. For pure muscle gain, with minimal new fat, you should looking at gaining only about half a pound per week.
968. Q:
Hey. I read some entries and most of the responses are that you can't lose weight in one certain area. Well I want to know what you do when the scale doesn't budge? Is it better to measure waist circumference? Because if you work out, you gain muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. I have a huge gut and I want to get rid of it. And my man boobs :) In your own words, WHAT IS YOUR BEST TIP FOR LOSING WEIGHT? great site by the way your really helpful :)
A:
Thanks, glad you finding my site useful! Actually, yes, measuring waist circumference can be a better indicator of progress than the scale. As you said, you could be losing fat and inches of the waist but gaining muscle at the same time so your weight doesn't change much if at all. However, this period of simultaneous fat loss and muscle gain won't last past 2-3 months at best for most people. After that you really will have to lose weight in order to lose fat.
So how do you get the scale to budge? Unfortunately there's no big secrets that will make it happen quickly and hassle-free :) It still comes down to doing a lot of small things right, both in diet and weight training. You've probably already seen them, but I give highlights in my Fitness Tips article and all the details in my Weight Training and Nutrition articles. If I had to pick one single fact that'll be most helpful to somebody like you trying to lose fat, then it would probably be to eat TONS of green veggies! They have more health benefits than pretty much any other food, are the perfect carb source when trying to lose fat, have surprising amount of protein, are super-rich in vitamins and minerals, and are light on calories while keeping you full preventing overeating. It'd be a little weird to have salad for breakfast (plain old-fashioned oatmeal is the carb of choice in the morning) but you'd do very well by having green veggies make up the bulk of your carb intake the rest of the day! However, again, despite all their greatness green veggies alone cannot guarantee success. They're just a big part of your complete program.
|
