How Can I Tone Up, Without Going On A Major Diet…just Eating A Balanced Normal Diet?
The reason why i am not going to diet is because i have just gotten to a normal weight after going through an eating disorder, so i dont want to start all the obsessing over calories again etc!
So anyway after putting on weight i have parts of my body which i would like to tone up. I have started the gym and go about 3 times a week for 1 hour – 1 hour and a half…
So basically my questions are..
Will i be able to get rid of the extra fatty bits by just exercising and not dieting, but eating a balanced diet around 1500 cals a day?
And what is better for losing fat other than gaining muscle?.. I do cardio at the gym but i still seem to gain the muscle! xxx
Sure thing. Just eating healthy and no junk will definitely allow for weight loss, because junk is why folks put on weight, it’s not very filling and it’s high energy. Good food like fruit, veg and whole grains are highly nutritious and low in energy, so you can eat well, be healthy, feel and look better, and lose weight.
Here’s my exercise and “diet” plan, you can skip the bit on calories, it’s just there as an FYI.
Email me if you have any questions.
Weight loss is all about this equation: energy taken in-energy used (energy for maintaining weight+energy burned in activity)
The basic equation to approximate maintenance needs is:
Maintenance=body weight in poundsx12
This is an estimate, and you may gain/lose according to difference in metabolism/activity level, weight you have to lose, genetic factors.
Conversion of weights: 300lbs:136kg:21stone or 1stone=14lbs, 1kg=2.2lbs
If you follow the maintenance and still gain/lose adjust by 250-500cals, monitoring weight after a week for reliability. Once you have a reasonable estimate, you want to lose weight healthily, otherwise, besides compromising health, your body realises what’s happening and thinks it’s being starved to death and will resist your efforts by slowing metabolism. When you do eat, it will then use this opportunity to regain as much fat as possible, perhaps more than before. It’s also important to realise most weight loss in the first week is mainly water, which easily comes back when eating normalises, as water is stored in the body with energy stores.
The guideline for healthy loss, is 1-2lbs a week. This correlates to 3500-7000cals per week, or 500-1000cals less per day than maintenance.
Example: 200lbs person, maintenance= 200×12=2400cals a day
2lbs loss a week=7000cals a week or 1000cals less a day
2400-1000= 1400cals a day produces 2lbs a week loss.
When weight loss stops, you can increase activity and/or decrease cals further by 250-500cals per day.
Diet wise, fruits, veg, grains, brown bread and wholewheat pasta, good fats from extra virgin olive oil, oily fish like salmon, mackerel,fresh not tinned tuna, kippers. Lean sources protein like skinless poultry,lean cuts red meat, eggs, skim milk. At least 2litres or 8pints of water daily is recommended, more if exercising/in hot weather. You’ll need to look at everything you eat, not just the writing advertising the product, but the real information they hide on the back with the calories,carbs,protein,fat and salt. Eventually, you’ll get an idea for the energy in foods, and you won’t always need to check. One thing to watch out for considering salt intake should be under5g, 1g sodium is 3-4g salt. Most of us eat 6-15g or more salt a day, the only way to cut this enough is to stop eating the premade, prepackaged ready meals and sauces.
Exercise wise, gym training with weights is very beneficial bringing many more health improvements beyond cardio. Resistance training means you don’t just shrink from a pear/apple shape to a smaller pear/apple, but you actually shape your body at the same time. You won’t bulk up or become huge, the freaks you see take drugs and have done it for decades. Men have the advantage of testosterone but they still have to work for it, women build muscle much less because they have much smaller amounts of testosterone (except for the ones taking drugs). Resistance training strengthens immune system, boosts metabolism better than cardio (3days vs 30mins-1hr), boosts metabolism longterm and while asleep due to better active tissue in the body, improves circulation, lowers blood pressure, improves digestion, and the list goes on. Cardio is also fine every now and then. Running/jogging on a treadmill is the quickest and easiest way to burn energy as you use bodyweight for resistance, and the treadmill is better on the knees than the ground. I recommend joining a website forum for fitness/training/bodybuilding/powerlifti… you don’t need to be or want to be a bodybuilder/powerlifter or a pro althlete, but you will need to follow similar diets and exercise plans to achieve good results, and the members have years of experience, offering great advice with nutrition plans and exercise routines. Aim your goals high and you’ll achieve the results you’re after that much sooner.
… Other than a balanced diet, the best advice is to do resistance training. Katie is right. Lifting weights is the best modality to keep your muscle tone where you want it, even improve it.
this is the best site ever to help you with what you need…
http://www.sparkpeople.com
it helped me so much!
and its FREE a lot of site trick you and at the end you have to pay.. and there is a lot of support and people that are going threw what your going threw and advice.
Diamond G
I do the special k breakfast lunch and dinner with fruit in the day only two weeks now i weigh 6 stone i was 9 . x
lifting weights helps