Q&A for: 3-Aug-05
295. Q:
according to the calculator you link to in one of your articles, i am supposed to be on a 1500 calorie diet a day. i dislike eating animal meat, but on occasion will eat chicken or turkey. so, how am i supposed to get 1500 calories if i don't eat meat so frequently? are we non-meat eaters doomed? and if i did have a meal plan in place, are you telling me that if i stick to a 1500 calorie diet and do the no equipment weight training in addition to 15 minutes of HIIT and 15 of walking at a fast pace on the treadmill 6 days a week, that i WILL shed pounds? how soon before i see results? however, i think my body has been on starvation mode for years. though, my weight has remained the same in these years (150 lbs.) i am constantly hungry yet i swear i have nothing 'worth' eating in my house! like today, i only had frozen strawberries and a glass of skim milk. no lunch. 10 glasses of water. rice, chicken, lentils, and green beans for dinner. that's all i had for the entire day. am i on the wrong path already? again, am i doomed? i might as well save up the $$ and get lipo or something. the problem i seem to be having is finding foods that are nutritious and having the time to eat them. it's times like this that i feel like giving up and crying. please help.
A:
Don't stress! :) Yes, it definitely sounds like your body is in starvation mode now so we'll need to fix up your diet and rev your metabolism back up. No, you do not need to save $$ for lipo :)
What what you're describing you're eating less than 1000 calories per day, which of course is too little. Your dinner was good except you'd probably want to lose the rice and add a little bit of olive oil instead for a perfect healthy balanced meal. Your goal will be to find time to eat five nutritious meals like that every day for 1500 calorie total. That means no more wimpy breakfasts or skipped lunches.
This will be your dietary goal. Because you don't eat meat or chicken much, you will need replace them with other sources of protein such as more lentils or other beans or cottage cheese or whey protein powder or more green veggies in general (lots of spinach + a little feta cheese is a very good and tasty combination, for example). Between all those choices, you'll need to find some good source of protein for every meal. You'll eat LOTS of veggies, preferably raw if possible. Pretty much anything goes there except starchy veggies like potatoes or corn. Also stay away or at least minimize other carb-heavy foods like bread, pasta, rice, etc. Veggies are your best friend!
Because your metabolism is so run down and your body is so starved, add to your diet slowly. Take a full month to go from what you're eating now to this 5-meal/1500-calorie diet. Remember that 1500 calories is not much at all (think 3 slices of pizza!) and split over 5 meals, all your individual meals will be pretty darn small. So again, be careful with portion sizes. That should take care of your diet.
For your exercise, what you described should be perfectly good, at least to start. As you become stronger and more fit, those bodyweight exercises will cease to be as effective and at that point you may want to either join a gym or get some dumbbells for home which would allow you to continue to work your muscles at high intensity with this program. Remember that when weight training (with or without equipment) your goal will be to push yourself with such effort that you can only perform any one exercise 12 times before needing a break. In my no-equipment or dumbbell-only programs I write to perform each exercise 10-20 times, but ideally you want to pick such weights that the lower end of that range poops you out! And you will get stronger every week, so in a month or two doing 10 or even 20 lunges will seem pretty easy. That's when you'll know to get those dumbbells to increase intensity. You can do HIIT and regular cardio as you described, in addition to weights.
How long till you see results? It'll take a few weeks because your metabolism is in deep slumber now. In fact it may even be possible that you'll gain a pound or two as you start eating more. Don't panic if and when that happens! If you are careful about your portion sizes (especially with calorie-dense foods like olive oil, cheese, oats) and continue to do weights and HIIT at proper intensity, the weight gain will reverse fast enough. You will probably stay roughly at constant weight throughout the first month (except those 1-2 possible new pounds) and after that you should start losing weight at 1-2 pounds per week.
Remember that all of proper diet, intense weight training, and HIIT are important parts of your overall program -- don't neglect any of them and push yourself in training with every workout. Post back here with any other questions and good luck!
296. Q:
I am 20 years old and have been doing strength building exercises for about a year. I would like to start cutting down my diet, but I heard that restricting my calories is not good to do until I reach 24 or so because this is when the brain main development stages stops, and that this cannot be safely done while my brain is at this stage. I was just wondering what you knew about mind-body issues like this one?
A:
I have never heard of this for ages older than 16. I rarely recommend that a teenager tries to diet to lose weight unless they're significantly overweight because they're still growing at that point and a restrictive diet can hurt their growth. But at age 20 you're done with most if not all of your growth and I don't see any reason why you should not be able to cut a little fat if that's what you want to do. Don't alter your diet too drastically and don't starve yourself and you should have absolutely no negative side-effects healthwise. The single simple adjustment to your diet I would recommend is replacing most of the starchy carbs like breads, rice, and pasta with vegetables (other than potatoes or corn). Also check out my Nutrition article if you haven't already. Good luck with your cut!
297. Q:
Its common that in order to lose weight u should combine proper diet cardio and weight training together.What happens if u just stick to diet abd cardio and ignore the weight training?Will u get lean this way?Also,i have a friend who lost fat this way but with the only difference that he made weight training however it was not progressive as he remained always in the same kgs and number of sets between his exercises.He did enough cardio about 45 mins t a moderate pace 5-6 times a week and he got thin but seems that was shrunk.What is the role of weight training in fat loss?Does it help u not to shrunk overall and stay in shape also as you lose fat except just burning more calories from muscles u ll get by the time?
A:
Yes, I guess one way to describe the role of weight training in losing fat is that is helps you not shrink :) As you lose weight your body will have a tendency to burn your existing muscle mass for energy (along with fat, of course) and the more faster your weight loss, the more muscle you'll lose in the process. Hence the shrinkage. Weight training, besides being an excellent fat-burner during both the exercise and the recovery period, also in effect tells your body that you need that muscle and that your body should try to burn less muscle and more fat for energy.
The kind of weight training your friend did (never increasing the weights) will have some of that positive effect, but to get the most out of weight training you need to keep it intense, which means increasing weights as you get stronger.
A decent diet + cardio alone will lose weight for most overweight people, but a lot of that weight will be muscle. After they're done losing weight those people will be vulnerable to fat coming back because they would typically finish their program with less muscle and lower metabolism than when they started. Finally, diet + cardio alone will work best for people who are overweight to begin with. If you're not significantly overweight, but still want to lose fat, diet + cardio alone will have diminishing results for you. At that point you'd need to have weight training as part of your program for any kind of good progress. However no matter what condition you start at, good weight training will help you lose fat and keep it off much better than diet + cardio alone!
298. Q:
'It's not a huge deal, but if all other things are equal, keep weights and cardio to separate days.' --WHY?
A:
Because doing cardio immediately before weights will tire you out and you won't have a very intense weights session. And doing cardio after weights will interfere with muscle recovery. Like I said, not a huge deal but do them on separate days if it's all the same to you
299. Q:
Due to my job i have to stay awake all night till morning for 3 days each week.I always make my weight training in days i dont work so later at night i can get a rest to repair my muscles.My question is:The hours i stay awake in my job should i have some small meals in order to keep my metabolism high?I do this by the time and for this reason the other meals i get through the rest day are smaller so i can have more of them.I also drink more water.I think its essential cause as i stay awake i burn more calories so i need to feed my body properly with small healthy meals(about 250-300calories big)every 3 hours.Is that ok?Should i try something different?
A:
Yes, you definitely have the right approach to it! As long as you're awake, try to eat every 3 hours (or even more often if you can manage). Just make sure that your whole diet makes your weight changes the way you want it to (which may be not at all). In other words, if your goal is to lose weight, say 1 pound per week, and you're not losing it, reduce your meal sizes a little. On your late shift days you might end up eating twice as many meals as during regular days but your calorie requirements may only be 20% higher. So accordingly, all of your meals should be smaller than usual because there're so many of them. Hope that made sense :)
300. Q:
What is better for losing body fat faster and in a right way?Doing low intensity cardio for longer periods or some type of hiit?I have read many articles about this and almost noone agrees with someone else on this.Many state that the low intensity is better cause u can breath and through air fat is burned more easily.On the other hand hiit burns less calories at the time it is done but it burns more calories afterwards(is it anaerobic?)and prevents muscles loses but with proper nutrition of course.Other claim u should use a combination of both for better results or do what it suits ur time better.I ve heard so many things iam confused.Also how many times a week should u do hiit?(i ve heard 3.What happens if u do more?)Whats ur opinion on this?Thanks
A:
Yes, people get very worked up about who has the exact perfect program :) My recommendation would be some sort of mix of moderate-to-brisk cardio and HIIT. HIIT is especially good in preserving muscle if you don't do any sort of weight training. If you do weight-train already then feel free to mix up HIIT and cardio as you like.
Slow cardio is appropriate in a lot of situations (elderly, rehabbing from injuries, want to relax while exercising), but in general if you are capable of more intense cardio, then do that. More intense cardio will develop your cardiovascular system better and train your muscles to fatigue less (allowing longer and/or more intense workouts).
On the other extreme, I don't recommend overdoing all-out cardio (such as HIIT) because it will lead to overtraining and injuries, especially if you're weight training and/or losing weight at the same time. So keep HIIT under control and don't go crazy during your non-HIIT cardio either.
How much HIIT to do? 2-3 sessions per week, 10-15 minutes per session (or less if you're just starting out) would be my recommendation. 10-15 minutes works out to 10-15 intense intervals alternated with 10-15 relaxed intervals (each interval is 30 seconds). You can do more if you don't do any weights (or if weight workouts are not very intense).
301. Q:
Should i take protein supplement before weight training(i know i should take after it)and if so how much time bofore it so it can be succesfully disgested?
A:
You don't have to take any special supps either before or after training, but you do need to have solid meals with a good amount of protein in them both before and after. That protein can come from fish, lean meat, poultry, cottage cheese, lentils or beans, or a protein supp such as whey protein powder. You want to have your pre-weights meal anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes before training -- basically just enough time for the food to settle down and you not to feel full (it may take longer than 60 minutes depending on what and how much you eat). The post-weights meal should be similar and immediately follow a workout. Check out sample Nutrition programs on the Articles page for examples of pre- and post-workout meals.
So going back to your question, don't think just in terms of protein, but in terms of complete meals that include protein. That protein can come from 'real foods' or from protein supplements. Also, check out my Protein Supp article if you're not sure what kind of protein supp to get.
302. Q:
I ve lost many weight but i didnt do much and hard weight training.I only did lot of cardio and diet.As a result i got smaller:(-as i see in some forums ppl call this shrunked?.If i start now some harder intensive weight training and eat little calories more a day(from 2000 to 2200 or 2300)is it possible to recover and get some muscles over time?Also,should i reduce my cardio?
A:
Oh yes, absolutely! You did lose some muscle mass which is extremely common when losing weight without doing weight training (or only doing it leisurly :). Good news is that that lost muscle is relatively easy to rebuild through the three things you mentioned: more calories, heavy weight training, and less cardio. Make sure the extra calories come from good foods and not junk, select a good weight training program (there's a bunch here, and cut down your cardio to allow your body to start building up muscle. Also, if you haven't already, check out other articles here to get some tips on further improving your diet and proper weight training. With a good program, you'll get back those muscles and more in a few months time. Good luck!
303. Q:
How do you loose flabby pectorals
A:
The only way is to reduce your overall body fat levels. Please read this article carefully for the complete solution!
304. Q:
I have always believed that during a workout you are supposed to exhale through the mouth on exertion and inhale through the nose on the way back up. Then yesterday I read in a weight training book that you are supposed to breathe naturally and that exhaling during exertion (followed by inhaling through the nose) is only needed for those people that are lifting really heavy weights to give them a boost during the lifting part. Which is true?
A:
I recommend continuing what you've always done -- exhale forcefully through the mouth on exertion (concentric phase) and inhale through the nose during the eccentric phase. This advice is completely universal and is an excellent habit to get into, whether you're in the gym or moving furniture around the house.
Some lifters like to hold their breath during the very heavy lifts which actually helps a little bit, but also spikes your blood pressure for a second up to 50% or more, has some chance of a blackout, and is certainly not necessary for the vast majority of lifters. Continue doing what you've already been doing as far as breathing.
305. Q:
About how long can it take for torn or strained tendons to heal (particularly in the neck)?
A:
I am not qualified to make that diagnosis, especially over the internet. You should see your doctor about it. Depending on the severity it could be anywhere from a few days to many weeks.
306. Q:
I noticed that for 1 c. raw regular potato has 4 carbs whereas 1 c. raw sweet potato has 32 carbs. Why do you suggest opting for sweet potatoes over regular?
A:
Sorry, your information is wrong. Regular potatoes and sweet potatoes have pretty much indentical calories gram-for-gram, but sweet potatoes are digested slower by your body (which is what you want) and are an excellent source of vitamin A particularly.
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