Post: #76

Just as an update, I'm still maintaining a pretty low-carb diet except I'm not nearly as strict with it. My weight is down to 165 from about 180 when I started. The key changes in my diet now are a cut in sugar (I used to take in a lot of sugar without really realizing it), a cut in starchy carbs (I rarely eat potatoes, rice, pasta or bread), and a cut in beer (I might have one beer every other week with friends).

A note, I have breaks one or two days a week where I binge on whatever it is that comes my way. It doesn't affect my weight really, and I have to add that my overall energy level is much higher than where it was before I started this "experiment."

Has this "experiment" been a success? So far, definitely. I feel better and my body looks better. I might post some before and after body pics later if I get to it.

Post: #77

Yeah for sure. Watch sodium intake on these high protein diets, fellas.

I've been doing a cyclical ketogenic diet for about 6 weeks and it's been working for me as well.

Post: #78

What else can I do for a beer belly besides sit ups? I'm real skinny and don't want to run because ill lose weight all over, not just my belly

Figured id ask in here instead of making a new thread.

Post: #79

(03-09-2011 04:38 AM)houston Wrote:  What else can I do for a beer belly besides sit ups? I'm real skinny and don't want to run because ill lose weight all over, not just my belly

Figured id ask in here instead of making a new thread.

You're skinny? Or you have a beer belly? Generally speaking it's impossible to lose fat in one targeted area, so I'd recommend just doing more fat burning diet and exercise routines to get rid of the fat. Belly fat is often the last to come off for men. When you're BF% is under 10 or so then you can start building your six-pack and you'll be able to see them.

Post: #80

(03-10-2011 04:25 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

(03-09-2011 04:38 AM)houston Wrote:  What else can I do for a beer belly besides sit ups? I'm real skinny and don't want to run because ill lose weight all over, not just my belly

Figured id ask in here instead of making a new thread.

You're skinny? Or you have a beer belly? Generally speaking it's impossible to lose fat in one targeted area, so I'd recommend just doing more fat burning diet and exercise routines to get rid of the fat. Belly fat is often the last to come off for men. When you're BF% is under 10 or so then you can start building your six-pack and you'll be able to see them.

I'm both. I'm skinny with a beer belly. I've been working on my arms and doing sit ups and can tell the bellys going down. I just don't want to run or go on any sort of diet because ill start losing weight all over.

Post: #81

(03-10-2011 09:12 PM)houston Wrote:  I'm both. I'm skinny with a beer belly. I've been working on my arms and doing sit ups and can tell the bellys going down. I just don't want to run or go on any sort of diet because ill start losing weight all over.

You gotta change up your diet and work out a bit. Move over to a higher protein low carb diet. That way you can maintain the weight, but become more toned.

Post: #82

I struggled with finding the right diet/routine for ages. Low-carb as a general lifestyle approach works great if you're simply striving for health with minimal anxiety/effort.

To get below 10% body-fat and reach your muscular potential, however, I've found that carbs (that is, unrefined ones such as brown rice and quinoa) help a great deal when used as refeeds after workouts.

http://www.leangains.com

This guy has, by far, the most convenient approach for the guys focused on aesthetics over other things. 3x/week short, high-intense workouts that focus on the compound movements and the use of intermittent fasting for 2-3 large, effective meals. I've had much more success with this than the pain in the ass 6x/week body-part per day routines that have you unnecessarily eating every 2-3 hours to "stay anabolic."

Post: #83

(03-10-2011 09:41 PM)kerouac Wrote:  

(03-10-2011 09:12 PM)houston Wrote:  I'm both. I'm skinny with a beer belly. I've been working on my arms and doing sit ups and can tell the bellys going down. I just don't want to run or go on any sort of diet because ill start losing weight all over.

You gotta change up your diet and work out a bit. Move over to a higher protein low carb diet. That way you can maintain the weight, but become more toned.

Ok. I was also thinking of running every day until I lose it then start doing sit ups like crazy to get it defined.

Post: #84

"Yeah for sure. Watch sodium intake on these high protein diets, fellas."

just be careful of red meats and balance it with turkey and fish. dont eat too much red meat, some cuts have lots of fat in them too and excessive beef can lead to cancer due to all the hormones they pump in them.

adjust your diet by adding nuts, nuts are ultra healthy such as almonds, etc.(in moderation) and have good fats, avocado too (in moderation).
aint harm if you eat whole grain from time to time.

eat berries (crangerries, blueberries, blackberries, etc.) too for antioxidants.

a good source of protein is also Hemp protein or whey protein.

Post: #85

(03-11-2011 12:09 PM)metalhaze Wrote:  "Yeah for sure. Watch sodium intake on these high protein diets, fellas."

just be careful of red meats and balance it with turkey and fish. dont eat too much red meat, some cuts have lots of fat in them too and excessive beef can lead to cancer due to all the hormones they pump in them.

adjust your diet by adding nuts, nuts are ultra healthy such as almonds, etc.(in moderation) and have good fats, avocado too (in moderation).
aint harm if you eat whole grain from time to time.

eat berries (crangerries, blueberries, blackberries, etc.) too for antioxidants.

a good source of protein is also Hemp protein or whey protein.

There are ways to consume the antioxidants without consuming so much fructose, mostly through supplements. I'd rather consume those calories as protein.

What is hemp protein? Is it supposed to be better than whey? It sounds new-agey but I'm intrigued.

Post: #86

(03-10-2011 09:12 PM)houston Wrote:  What else can I do for a beer belly besides sit ups? I'm real skinny and don't want to run because ill lose weight all over, not just my belly

Figured id ask in here instead of making a new thread.

I'm thin, have had a fair gut in the past.

This is really simple, but will take a few months:

First go on the Paleo diet -- lean meats, nuts, vegetables, fruit. Any crap your eating, stop. About two weeks in buy a copy of "You are Your Own Gym" and start doing the workouts. Its a full body program and requires no equipment.

What is going to happen is your gut will lean out but you will start gaining muscle mass and you will balance out. The home run here is that the Paleo diet is easy to stick to 98% of the time, the "You are your Own Gym" workout is addicting and forgiving. I would pay a million dollars to go back in a time machine to when I was 12 years old and tell myself to do these things.

This food & fitness stuff is made way more complicated than it should be and it sucks.

Post: #87

I just started Atkins this Monday, It'll be five days tomorrow (friday) and I'm not seeing much of a change. Atkins is usually touted as being an incredibly fast diet that shows lots of weight loss very quickly, most stories I've read go on about noticeable weight loss in the first week, yet I've seen nothing, if anything I feel like I've gained weight.

I might just be psyching myself into it, but I feel... fatter. I know Atkins tends to be calorie heavy, could this just be an adjustment phase as my bodies going from a low calorie but moderate carb diet into the higher fat no carb diet of Atkins?

Am I just being a bitch?

Im doing two 2.5 hour full body workouts twice a week because its what fits my hectic work schedule, anyone have any tips on how to accelerate the ketosis brought on by Atkins?

Edit: Also, what does anyone know about "sugar alcohols" and Atkins?

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #88

been following tim ferris of 4hour body fame slow carb diet for about 1.5 months now

it works.

basically anyone looking for good introductory info to the low carb diet
mark sissons mark's daily apple website, and gary taubes book 'why we get fat: and what to do about it'


anyone on the fence about this, try it out. and keep up with HIT weights training.

your gut, and pancreas will thank me for it

Post: #89

(07-21-2011 08:17 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:  Am I just being a bitch?

Im doing two 2.5 hour full body workouts twice a week because its what fits my hectic work schedule, anyone have any tips on how to accelerate the ketosis brought on by Atkins?

Edit: Also, what does anyone know about "sugar alcohols" and Atkins?

Chad check out bodybyscience by doug mcguff
great book on HIT training and how to specifically increase glycogen depletion

or check out his overview at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PdJFbjWHEU

Post: #90

I like mark sissons approach. He actually gets that you need saturate fats. I still don't know where the anti red meat is from, sounds like bull shit science to me.

Post: #91

eat some meats, grains, fruits, vegetables.

lift weight, run around, play a sport.

drink water.

repeat.

Post: #92

(03-19-2011 10:12 PM)babelfish669 Wrote:  

(03-10-2011 09:12 PM)houston Wrote:  What else can I do for a beer belly besides sit ups? I'm real skinny and don't want to run because ill lose weight all over, not just my belly

Figured id ask in here instead of making a new thread.

I'm thin, have had a fair gut in the past.

This is really simple, but will take a few months:

First go on the Paleo diet -- lean meats, nuts, vegetables, fruit. Any crap your eating, stop. About two weeks in buy a copy of "You are Your Own Gym" and start doing the workouts. Its a full body program and requires no equipment.

What is going to happen is your gut will lean out but you will start gaining muscle mass and you will balance out. The home run here is that the Paleo diet is easy to stick to 98% of the time, the "You are your Own Gym" workout is addicting and forgiving. I would pay a million dollars to go back in a time machine to when I was 12 years old and tell myself to do these things.

This food & fitness stuff is made way more complicated than it should be and it sucks.

I agree with babelfish669. I had a small gut but overall thin/average frame. I burned the stomach right off by doing intense exercise and eating paleo. It took several months.
People need to remember that when you change your diet and start exercising, it's a lifestyle change. So you need to stay focused on the long term and keep your eye on the ball (your goals). Don't try to ram it all out in two weeks. Ain't gonna happen.

Post: #93

(07-31-2011 03:08 PM)Smitty Wrote:  I agree with babelfish669. I had a small gut but overall thin/average frame. I burned the stomach right off by doing intense exercise and eating paleo. It took several months.
People need to remember that when you change your diet and start exercising, it's a lifestyle change. So you need to stay focused on the long term and keep your eye on the ball (your goals). Don't try to ram it all out in two weeks. Ain't gonna happen.

Its good to hear this from another person.

I started modifying my diet slowly nearly four years ago when I cut out drinking soda (lost 5 pounds pretty much right away.) It wasn't until just about 9 months ago when I switched to paleo when I really began seeing improvements in my physical build and athletic endurance.

When you modify your diet slowly you form good habits and get rid of bad ones. My old diet was stuff like frozen pizza, cereal, soy milk, and soda; now I can't even stomach a small serving of any of it. Training yourself to stop enjoying the high glycemic index carbohydrates definitely does not happen over night but you absolutely can do it.

Post: #94

Yea, the thing most people don't realize is that changing your lifestyle (whether through diet, exercise, or both) is very similar to quitting a terrible, nasty habit. Anyone who has successfully quit smoking knows that the first 3-5 days is absolute misery. After that, it's still hard, but it gets easier. And you can never fully let down your guard because you'll always (at least for several years) have that craving to smoke again. Same thing with diet. Most carbs and sugar are addictive. Once you quit, you purge that shit from your system and every single person I've talked with who has done it has felt amazing. More energy, hard-ons in the morning, positive attitude, losing weight, digest food much better, and they shit cleaner too. But it's very easy to fall off the wagon and start eating like shit again. The key is achieving the physical change through exercise while changing your diet. That way, you get the slim stomach and six-pack you always wanted from both exercise and diet, and once you have that, you'll NEVER want to let it go. Abs are made in the kitchen...not on crunch machines (although you have to build the muscle, I know). I know, I'm preaching.

Post: #95

People who eat Paleo often justify eating foods with a high fat content (such as bacon, butter, lard, etc). I don't. When I eat that food, it makes me feel like shit. So I don't care if my ancestors ate it, I don't do well with it. But those fatties on the paleo forums insist that it's ok to eat bacon three times/day. I can see oils and avocado and the such with high fat content, but pure fat from meat just doesn't do it for me.

Post: #96

Fat works great for me. I think you only don't use it when your doing a heavy workout day. I do have digestive problems (still not fully healed either) so weight loss is much slower than most people. I'm at my last 20-25 pounds very resistent. I've been on the diet for at least a year now. Lost about 30 pounds of fat, gained some muscle.

Post: #97

(08-02-2011 10:43 PM)Stevexyz Wrote:  This diet works really well for me. However I would not cook anything on butter, its too fattening

Let me tell you, if you think fat is bad just wait until you see how much damage high glycemic foods are doing to you.

I don't eat butter because its dairy. My fats come from fish, grass fed meats, and whole plants like coconut and avocados. I can't find any evidence that these things alone are damaging to your health.

Post: #98

i eat pretty bad.

im 5'9 and weigh 185

i look muscular with shirt on but i have a fair amount of fat on my belly and love handles.

havent worked out in about 1.5 years.

bout to get back in the gym and also start playing sports every week for cardio.

i need to drop the fat which would bring me down to 170 then build back up 190 - 200 pounds all muscle.

Post: #99

You probably could just intermittent fast on low carb, and do bodyweight exercises. If you eat right, you won't lose any muscle and most likely gain it. Lots of protein. Do you have problems stopping eating? Do you crave foods when your not eating? Snacking is really bad, due to how it effect insulin and leptin levels.

Post: #100

(08-04-2011 01:08 AM)Dash Global Wrote:  i eat pretty bad.

im 5'9 and weigh 185

i look muscular with shirt on but i have a fair amount of fat on my belly and love handles.

havent worked out in about 1.5 years.

bout to get back in the gym and also start playing sports every week for cardio.

i need to drop the fat which would bring me down to 170 then build back up 190 - 200 pounds all muscle.

In my experience of doing the same exact thing (getting rid of belly/love handles), the majority of the work was in the kitchen. I work my abs 3-4 times/week (15 minute workout) but stay away from breads, pastas, starches, etc. High glycemic foods are the enemy. Simple carbs are the enemy. Sugar is the enemy. All that said, I make exceptions for fruit. But treat fruit as a dessert - that is, reward yourself with after a good workout. Don't eat ten servings per day (too much sugar, carbs, etc). And never, never, never have a "cheat day" every week. That stupid concept fucks with your body when you're training it to adapt to a certain lifestyle. Kind of like quitting smoking and then rewarding yourself with a "smoke day" every week. If it were easy, everyone would be thin and have great abs.