By now you would be probably thinking that I have gone bonkers/crazy/nuts/insane whatever you want to call me. However, I am telling you this, I have been there and done that. Initially I did not know, about muscles increasing my metabolism, so I started with cutting, the process is very fast initially, but it slows down and stops.
If you don't believe what I'm gonna say, just please at least try it out, the first few pounds of fat is easy to lose, but the last remaining ones are slow. This plateau ( slowed growth) is the reason why I am advocating you to gain muscle first. When you gave muscle, you will find that it is much easier to reach your goals faster.
Illustration :
Johhny fat boy uses about 2000 calories a day without exercise. He decided to follow my advice and go ahead increase his caloric intake and bulk for muscles. After 3 months johhny is still fat, but he is much more muscular and he weighs more (muscle and a little fat gain), and his body in sedentary (non exercise) mode uses about 2600 calories a day.
And then Johhny decides to go on a cutting phase : he needs to eat roughly 2500 calories a day, to lose weight ( let's say for simplicity sake, johhny does not exercise for all cases).
Whereas if Johhny fat boy decides to straightaway cut and skip bulking, johhny has to reduce his dietary intake to 1900 and less if he reaches a stagnant point.
Now between reducing intake of 2500 calories and 1900 calories a day, which one is manageable for Johhny fat boy? Definitely Johhny will think that it is much easier to reduce his intake to 2500. After all, every fat person, whether girl or boy does not really like to reduce their caloric intake drastically. Muscles ultimately create an unprecedented advantage for fat loss, metaphorically speaking it gives you that 5 minutes headstart for the race.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The ultimate fat loss program
There is only one way to lose fat efficiently and permanently, that is to build and maintain muscle in order to jack up your calorie output and then continuing on your fat burning.
Program is simple :
1) Set your goal. Make sure is something clear and not weight related. Let's say for example I want to reach 18% fat, or I want a waist size of 37.
2) Since you are fat and probably huge already, go bulk ( put on muscle ) , with the as little fat gain possible.This will be referred to as the bulking phase.
3) After you are satisfied, go on a fat loss program and minimize muscle loss.This is called the cutting phase.
4) Rinse and repeat until you get your desired result/goal
Setting your goal is something really important, so please that will the first thing you do. Remember to measure regularly to find out how you are doing.
First things first, remember to count your food calories: http://www.weightlossforall.com/food-calories-list.htm
This is one of the simplest thing that i will tell you to do , buy a food weighing machine and then just compare it with the list given to you in the above link.
Big people don't usually have much trouble gaining muscle, the idea is simple. You just need to calculate your daily calorie expenditure, then make sure you eat 10-20% more.
Diet should be medium carb, high protein, low fat (good fat)
Example :
You use 2500 calories a day ( after weight lifting session factored in )
Make sure you consume roughly 2750.
Don't go low carb/protein, and avoid fats.
Remember to check with your physician before you exercise, you might have heart or thyroid disease that prevents you from exercising.
Make sure you work out/ lift weights..... If you don't work out then it's useless.
This may sound weird but try to split your meals into 5-6. The reason is that by splitting your meals, your muscles can absorb more of the nutrients, compared to eating 3 meals a day. It's a chore, but you have to do it.
Never indulge in junk food, except pre and post work out drink.
Remember to eat your preworkout drink/meal.
Let's say :
Work out at 5pm
Preworkout meal should be 45-60 mins before workout.
Preworkout drink should be 15-30 mins before workout.
Choose either the meal or drink, but not both.
Preworkout meal: your regular meal complete with carb, protein and good fats.
Preworkout drink, half scoop of Optimum Nurition ( I use Optimum, you can use other brands it's pretty much the same) whey protein , 1/4 scoop of sugar (if your protein contains enough carbs then skip the sugar) and add some milk/orange juice (optional). If you did not add the orange juice remember to eat vitamin C before the workout, time depends on the absorption rate. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps out prevent oxidation. If you don't like the sugar, substitute it with a banana, it's healthier that way.
Postworkout drink , is also very very important, you can buy premade postworkout drinks in gnc or bodybuilding.com , but u also can make it yourself.
Post workout drink : 1 banana, 1 scoop of whey, 1 serving of creatine, add a little sugar, if no banana add more sugar to spike insulin. Banana can be substituted with fruit juice. You can skip the creatine if you feel uncomfortable.
The stuff you lift, no matter how heavy that crap is, isn't building your muscle. What you are actually doing is breaking your muscle down in a good way, and then you stimulate it , to rebuild during rest. To stimulate your muscle to rebuild , you need to deliver nutrients to your muscle cells, to do so you need to spike insulin to deliver the glucose to your muscles and you need fast protein.
Try to avoid eating too much fat during your bulking phase. Eat your omega 3 and omega 6, they are good for you. I would recommend a ratio of 1 omega three :2 omega six , and it makes up 10-15% your diet. The remaining should be split evenly between carb and protein.
Program is simple :
1) Set your goal. Make sure is something clear and not weight related. Let's say for example I want to reach 18% fat, or I want a waist size of 37.
2) Since you are fat and probably huge already, go bulk ( put on muscle ) , with the as little fat gain possible.This will be referred to as the bulking phase.
3) After you are satisfied, go on a fat loss program and minimize muscle loss.This is called the cutting phase.
4) Rinse and repeat until you get your desired result/goal
Setting your goal is something really important, so please that will the first thing you do. Remember to measure regularly to find out how you are doing.
First things first, remember to count your food calories: http://www.weightlossforall.com/food-calories-list.htm
This is one of the simplest thing that i will tell you to do , buy a food weighing machine and then just compare it with the list given to you in the above link.
Big people don't usually have much trouble gaining muscle, the idea is simple. You just need to calculate your daily calorie expenditure, then make sure you eat 10-20% more.
Diet should be medium carb, high protein, low fat (good fat)
Example :
You use 2500 calories a day ( after weight lifting session factored in )
Make sure you consume roughly 2750.
Don't go low carb/protein, and avoid fats.
Remember to check with your physician before you exercise, you might have heart or thyroid disease that prevents you from exercising.
Make sure you work out/ lift weights..... If you don't work out then it's useless.
This may sound weird but try to split your meals into 5-6. The reason is that by splitting your meals, your muscles can absorb more of the nutrients, compared to eating 3 meals a day. It's a chore, but you have to do it.
Never indulge in junk food, except pre and post work out drink.
Remember to eat your preworkout drink/meal.
Let's say :
Work out at 5pm
Preworkout meal should be 45-60 mins before workout.
Preworkout drink should be 15-30 mins before workout.
Choose either the meal or drink, but not both.
Preworkout meal: your regular meal complete with carb, protein and good fats.
Preworkout drink, half scoop of Optimum Nurition ( I use Optimum, you can use other brands it's pretty much the same) whey protein , 1/4 scoop of sugar (if your protein contains enough carbs then skip the sugar) and add some milk/orange juice (optional). If you did not add the orange juice remember to eat vitamin C before the workout, time depends on the absorption rate. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps out prevent oxidation. If you don't like the sugar, substitute it with a banana, it's healthier that way.
Postworkout drink , is also very very important, you can buy premade postworkout drinks in gnc or bodybuilding.com , but u also can make it yourself.
Post workout drink : 1 banana, 1 scoop of whey, 1 serving of creatine, add a little sugar, if no banana add more sugar to spike insulin. Banana can be substituted with fruit juice. You can skip the creatine if you feel uncomfortable.
The stuff you lift, no matter how heavy that crap is, isn't building your muscle. What you are actually doing is breaking your muscle down in a good way, and then you stimulate it , to rebuild during rest. To stimulate your muscle to rebuild , you need to deliver nutrients to your muscle cells, to do so you need to spike insulin to deliver the glucose to your muscles and you need fast protein.
Try to avoid eating too much fat during your bulking phase. Eat your omega 3 and omega 6, they are good for you. I would recommend a ratio of 1 omega three :2 omega six , and it makes up 10-15% your diet. The remaining should be split evenly between carb and protein.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
your worst enemy is your best friend
So after reading the last post , everything seems simple right ? Doesn't it just equal to calorie balancing of input and output ? To increase output , we just need to exercise and build muscle, while we need to eat less to burn more fat ?
Almost all of us knows about this, but why is it many of us fail even after trying ? Because there are some key things that I have not mentioned .
- The process of muscle gain
" We just need to work out and eat a low carb meal and high protein meal. Then we will gain muscle and lose fat at the same time."
Is the statement above true ? The answer is no.
Remember insulin ? The stuff that your pancreas releases , to send your sugar all over your muscles and liver , then converts the remaining sugar to fat ?
Your worst enemy , you may think, but ....
You need insulin for muscle growth. The presence of insulin also stimulates more nutrients, protein to be sent over to your muscle tissue, stimulating its growth. If you want to grow muscles fast and big you need to eat your sugar.
Before and after you workout, make sure to drink a high GI ( glycemix index ) and high protein drink. The glycemix index tells you how fast your food are converted to sugar, hence the higher GI , more insulin.
Thus, it is actually inevitable for you to gain muscle, without gaining some fat (because of insulin release). If you want to reduce the amount of fat you gain, then you reduce the amount of carbs and fats.
Almost all of us knows about this, but why is it many of us fail even after trying ? Because there are some key things that I have not mentioned .
- The process of muscle gain
" We just need to work out and eat a low carb meal and high protein meal. Then we will gain muscle and lose fat at the same time."
Is the statement above true ? The answer is no.
Remember insulin ? The stuff that your pancreas releases , to send your sugar all over your muscles and liver , then converts the remaining sugar to fat ?
Your worst enemy , you may think, but ....
You need insulin for muscle growth. The presence of insulin also stimulates more nutrients, protein to be sent over to your muscle tissue, stimulating its growth. If you want to grow muscles fast and big you need to eat your sugar.
Before and after you workout, make sure to drink a high GI ( glycemix index ) and high protein drink. The glycemix index tells you how fast your food are converted to sugar, hence the higher GI , more insulin.
Thus, it is actually inevitable for you to gain muscle, without gaining some fat (because of insulin release). If you want to reduce the amount of fat you gain, then you reduce the amount of carbs and fats.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
calories and metabolism -> the basics
The amount of energy you use is measured in kcal (calorie). The food and drinks you ingest contains carbs, fats and proteins that will react with oxygen to produce energy which is measured in calories.
So how many calories do we roughly burn in a a day ?
check this website to calculate your daily calorie needs.
In order to lose fat, you have to increase your daily calorie expenditure that is equivalent to increasing your metabolism. There are 3 ways to increase your metabolism:
1) exercise
2) be more active ( increase your non exercise physical activity )
3) gain more muscle ( muscle tissue use up more calorie than fat )
Remember the previous equation I gave you ?
Let's make it simpler
fat gain + muscle gain = calories from food - calories burned
So all we need is to make sure we burn more calories than we ingest ?
Now if we use more calories than we ingest, according to the equation we can lose either muscle or fat or both. Sounds confusing enough? you might say that it's fine, we will lose both fat and muscles, but what if I tell you there are secret techniques that will enable you to minimise muscle loss, and maximize fat gain.
Why do we need muscles to lose fat ?
Girls hate muscles, no they fear it. Muscles make them ugly, they say. Yet they are missing the secret of losing more fat faster and permanently.
Your muscle tissue use up more calorie than fat tissue. So more muscle means more calorie burned daily, and some of these calories come from your fat( we can maximize the calories burned from fat) . Your muscle is like an auto calorie burner, it is advantageous to have it.
So how many calories do we roughly burn in a a day ?
check this website to calculate your daily calorie needs.
In order to lose fat, you have to increase your daily calorie expenditure that is equivalent to increasing your metabolism. There are 3 ways to increase your metabolism:
1) exercise
2) be more active ( increase your non exercise physical activity )
3) gain more muscle ( muscle tissue use up more calorie than fat )
Remember the previous equation I gave you ?
Let's make it simpler
fat gain + muscle gain = calories from food - calories burned
So all we need is to make sure we burn more calories than we ingest ?
Now if we use more calories than we ingest, according to the equation we can lose either muscle or fat or both. Sounds confusing enough? you might say that it's fine, we will lose both fat and muscles, but what if I tell you there are secret techniques that will enable you to minimise muscle loss, and maximize fat gain.
Why do we need muscles to lose fat ?
Girls hate muscles, no they fear it. Muscles make them ugly, they say. Yet they are missing the secret of losing more fat faster and permanently.
Your muscle tissue use up more calorie than fat tissue. So more muscle means more calorie burned daily, and some of these calories come from your fat( we can maximize the calories burned from fat) . Your muscle is like an auto calorie burner, it is advantageous to have it.
Understanding your body
How do we lose fat ? What should I do to maximize my fat loss ?
To understand how your body burn fat, you must understand how your body gain fat. Whenever you consume carbohydrates , your body will convert this carbs into sugar, later converted to glycogen. Now, the body starts to sense that it has a lot of sugar, then it will issue a command to the pancreas to secrete/release insulin. Insulin takes these sugar and store them as glycogen and then stores them in our muscles and then our liver. Excess sugar will be converted into fats.
Read about insulin in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin.
Carb type food examples : sugar, bread, rice, wheat, flour,fructose found in fruits
What about the fats we eat ? Unless it is burnt fat will be stored as fat, those that are not stored will be defecated out. There are medicines that absorb the fat you eat and allow to defecate it out, I think it was manufactured by Roche , called Xenical.
Fat type food examples : cooking oil, fish oil, olive oil
What about protein ? It is not likely for protein to be stored as fat. Protein will have to be converted to glucose first then fat.
Protein type food examples: Meat, milk(mix of carb and protein), whey
below is an equation to relate fat gain
Fat gain = calories eaten/digested - calories used in daily activity - calories used in muscle gain + calories derived from muscle loss
To understand how your body burn fat, you must understand how your body gain fat. Whenever you consume carbohydrates , your body will convert this carbs into sugar, later converted to glycogen. Now, the body starts to sense that it has a lot of sugar, then it will issue a command to the pancreas to secrete/release insulin. Insulin takes these sugar and store them as glycogen and then stores them in our muscles and then our liver. Excess sugar will be converted into fats.
Read about insulin in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin.
Carb type food examples : sugar, bread, rice, wheat, flour,fructose found in fruits
What about the fats we eat ? Unless it is burnt fat will be stored as fat, those that are not stored will be defecated out. There are medicines that absorb the fat you eat and allow to defecate it out, I think it was manufactured by Roche , called Xenical.
Fat type food examples : cooking oil, fish oil, olive oil
What about protein ? It is not likely for protein to be stored as fat. Protein will have to be converted to glucose first then fat.
Protein type food examples: Meat, milk(mix of carb and protein), whey
below is an equation to relate fat gain
Fat gain = calories eaten/digested - calories used in daily activity - calories used in muscle gain + calories derived from muscle loss
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Technique 1 : quantifying results
For best results read from 1st post
How should we start ?
First of all, we need to be able to quantify our results in order to check our progress. In order to know whether our program is working or not we need to know our fat %.
These website is a good place to start :
1) http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/body-fat-percentage.php
2) http://zone.cust.he.net/prothd2.html
3) http://www.csgnetwork.com/healthcalc.html
4) http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html
There are many places to start, but measuring your fat percentage is important.
It is important to be consistent in taking your measurements, for example to take your measurement every morning when you wake up. comparing measurements taken at inconsistent times will mislead you. Throughout our program. please take your measurements, at least once a week. The result will definitely motivate you to follow your program.
The difference between weight and fat percentage:
Is your weighing machine enough to measure your fat % ?
Your weight is made up of a few components, your bones, fat, water, muscle and many more. You can be heavy but muscular, on the other hand you can be heavy but fat. Most of the fat is stored at the stomach and hips, so taking these fat% measurements is important to clarify whether we have gained muscle or fat.
Throughout the program, it could be possible that you do not lose your weight at all, but discover that your waist size reducing dramatically, do not be surprised.
How should we start ?
First of all, we need to be able to quantify our results in order to check our progress. In order to know whether our program is working or not we need to know our fat %.
These website is a good place to start :
1) http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/body-fat-percentage.php
2) http://zone.cust.he.net/prothd2.html
3) http://www.csgnetwork.com/healthcalc.html
4) http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html
There are many places to start, but measuring your fat percentage is important.
It is important to be consistent in taking your measurements, for example to take your measurement every morning when you wake up. comparing measurements taken at inconsistent times will mislead you. Throughout our program. please take your measurements, at least once a week. The result will definitely motivate you to follow your program.
The difference between weight and fat percentage:
Is your weighing machine enough to measure your fat % ?
Your weight is made up of a few components, your bones, fat, water, muscle and many more. You can be heavy but muscular, on the other hand you can be heavy but fat. Most of the fat is stored at the stomach and hips, so taking these fat% measurements is important to clarify whether we have gained muscle or fat.
Throughout the program, it could be possible that you do not lose your weight at all, but discover that your waist size reducing dramatically, do not be surprised.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The secret from experience
Losing fat is easy but difficult, and vice versa. I don't like to talk in riddles but when you actually try it out, you will understand what i mean. These are the few points to get started.
1) Desire - there must be a strong desire within yourself to lose that fat. The reason has to be important to you , not to your family, or your dad or your girlfriend/boyfriend , etc. This is what eventually spells out success, a strong desire.
2) Knowledge - This is the easiest part, you can read about this a lot from this blog, or from your doctor or your diet doctor, ask around.
3)Consistent action - You want to lose fat, you know how to lose fat , but if you never act, you will still be fat. This is in my opinion is the hardest part, as this process requires : strict discipline and a strong and consistent motivation and re-motivation.
I can help with number 2, but number 1 and 3 have to come from you. If either is flawed then what i teach will be useless. To summarize the whole thing, losing fat is about changing your habits. You have to change what and when you eat, exercise habits and your knowledge about your body. It is something similar to quitting smoking, but not exactly the same.
If you have been good at changing your habits, you will be good at losing fat.
Knowledge will come after this, but it will be good to read on the 7 habits of highly effective people/teens.
1) Desire - there must be a strong desire within yourself to lose that fat. The reason has to be important to you , not to your family, or your dad or your girlfriend/boyfriend , etc. This is what eventually spells out success, a strong desire.
2) Knowledge - This is the easiest part, you can read about this a lot from this blog, or from your doctor or your diet doctor, ask around.
3)Consistent action - You want to lose fat, you know how to lose fat , but if you never act, you will still be fat. This is in my opinion is the hardest part, as this process requires : strict discipline and a strong and consistent motivation and re-motivation.
I can help with number 2, but number 1 and 3 have to come from you. If either is flawed then what i teach will be useless. To summarize the whole thing, losing fat is about changing your habits. You have to change what and when you eat, exercise habits and your knowledge about your body. It is something similar to quitting smoking, but not exactly the same.
If you have been good at changing your habits, you will be good at losing fat.
Knowledge will come after this, but it will be good to read on the 7 habits of highly effective people/teens.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Introduction to fat loss
Are you fat ? Do you want to lose that flab ? Do you want to look better and beautiful ? Do you think that it's just a dream ? Let me tell you one thing that it's not impossible to lose that inches in the stomach. I am confident in what i said because i have done it, been there done that.
I would like to introduce myself as a FFB, former fat ass, i mean FF Boy. I didn't really care about losing weight until reaching my teenage years. Tried the yo-yo diet, tried starving , tried exercizing and blablabla. My main point is that when you are really2 fat, whatever you do will work at the start, but eventually you will reach a plateau, you get stuck.
My blog tries to teach you first time fat boys and girls the required techniques to lose fat , faster than before or at least introduce you to be slimmer.
The most important question , that I ask you before you read this any further. It is possible for you to be slim and lose the fat that you carry around with you, but there is a price.... Are you willing to pay the price? Do not continue , if you are not prepared.
First things first, before you even start thinking about losing weight, we have to begin by visualizing how you would like after you have lost your fat. Put a picture of your face on a body that you want ( no cross gender switch please ^_^ ). Visualize that everyday, then I will see you next post.
I would like to introduce myself as a FFB, former fat ass, i mean FF Boy. I didn't really care about losing weight until reaching my teenage years. Tried the yo-yo diet, tried starving , tried exercizing and blablabla. My main point is that when you are really2 fat, whatever you do will work at the start, but eventually you will reach a plateau, you get stuck.
My blog tries to teach you first time fat boys and girls the required techniques to lose fat , faster than before or at least introduce you to be slimmer.
The most important question , that I ask you before you read this any further. It is possible for you to be slim and lose the fat that you carry around with you, but there is a price.... Are you willing to pay the price? Do not continue , if you are not prepared.
First things first, before you even start thinking about losing weight, we have to begin by visualizing how you would like after you have lost your fat. Put a picture of your face on a body that you want ( no cross gender switch please ^_^ ). Visualize that everyday, then I will see you next post.
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