3 months to lose a stone and trim & tone!

Sally22_2

Just wanted to reply to post #30, of course 1lb of muscle weighs the same as 1lb of fat, that's like saying 1lb of feathers weighs the same as 1lb of iron, they are all 1lb in weight but different sizes. So the same size of fat and muscle may be different weights.

1lb of fat is bigger than 1lb of muscle.

Good luck on your weight loss journey Pix.

pixnmix_2

Hi Summerbreeze and Sally


Summerbreeze, well done on your weight loss. That's impressive. I'm going to focus on getting 2 runs in this week but dreading starting again. Will keep your post about your weight loss in my head to motivate me I need to drink more water .. ok I need to drink water! (i only drink it hot with a PG tips bag in) Must try harder Pix!!


Sally, that makes total sense about the weight of fat and muscle. Never thought of it like that

purpleshoes_2

Sally22 wrote: »

Just wanted to reply to post #30, of course 1lb of muscle weighs the same as 1lb of fat, that's like saying 1lb of feathers weighs the same as 1lb of iron, they are all 1lb in weight but different sizes. So the same size of fat and muscle may be different weights.

1lb of fat is bigger than 1lb of muscle.

Good luck on your weight loss journey Pix.

Heavier was the word that was used, not bigger. Its a myth that muscle weighs more than fat. Its denser.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sportsdoc/Fitness-MythBusters-does-muscle-weight-more-than-fat.html

Sally22_2

Yes I know its denser - if you haven't lost any weight after a healthy eating and diet routine you have probably lost inches due to the muscle you have gained being smaller than the fat you have lost.

Not going to comment any more as I was only here to say that its silly saying 1lb of fat weighs the same as 1lb of muscle because obviously it does as they are both 1lb!

purpleshoes_2

Sally22 wrote: »

Yes I know its denser - if you haven't lost any weight after a healthy eating and diet routine you have probably lost inches due to the muscle you have gained being smaller than the fat you have lost.

Not going to comment any more as I was only here to say that its silly saying 1lb of fat weighs the same as 1lb of muscle because obviously it does as they are both 1lb!

Well its also widely assumed that muscle is heavier than fat, which is what was said earlier in the thread. Personally I think thats a myth that needs to be debunked because it keeps being repeated over and over on the net.

Ive spent the last year working out, lifting heavy weights and doing a lot of HIIT. I would say that my muscle composition has increased, it would have to have after some of the exercise Ive been doing but Ive still lost weight, around 42 pounds.

Taking measurements is a good idea. But if the scales arent moving in any direction, its not always because people have suddenly lost fat and gained muscle. The more muscle you have the more calories you should be burning, because muscle needs more calories to maintain.

It could be any number of things, their diet might need tweaking, they might be eating too many foods that are labelled as "healthy" but actually arent. They might be overestimating the exercise calories they are burning and underestimating their food intake.

Or they might be at the weight their body is happy with and only drastically cutting calories would see more weight off.

purpleshoes_2

Id say avoid anything low fat like the plague. The stuff just isnt good for you, anything lite or low fat. Avoid. That includes milk, low fat spread, diet coke, low fat yogurt. I know that might be advice thats different than people get when on certain diet plans, but the savings compared to full fat versions can often be very low and low fat anything tends to have sweeteners or sugar added back in.

Butter is better for you than low fat spread. Even if you need to use a scraping of it. Low fat spreads really arent very healthy and you are better cutting them right down or out.

Eat more protein. We dont need to eat as much carbs as its suggested by the Govt. The eat well plate was devised in the 50s when money was scarce and it was recommended that people eat a lot of carbs, potatoes, rice, pasta. We dont need to eat 55-60 per cent carbs a day, most people can cope well enough on 30-40.

Cut down on wheat, many people are intolerant to it without realising it.
Even wholemeal pasta, rice and bread should be eaten sparingly. Shop bought bread will have sugar added back in. Lots of cereals have added sugar, even weetabix.

Food such as oatcakes, sweet potatoes, porridge, lots of veg, peanut butter, fruit can be eaten but sometimes its better to moderate fruit intake as it can be quite calorific. A couple of squares of dark chocolate is fine as a treat.

If you are calorie counting and your weight is still hitting a plateau, then cut your calories by maybe 50-100 a week and keep cutting until you see a loss, not drastically, but at some point you will find the calorie intake that will achieve slow weight loss.

Some people eat their exercise calories back, I dont, but I dont really count calories anyway. Be aware that exercise shouldnt be used to be able to compensate by having too many treats. The phrase is, you cant out train a bad diet and its true.

Think about investing in a jawbone up or a fitbit, if they are too expensive get a pedometer, its often suggested that 10 000 steps a day is what we should be looking to achieve, thats a minimum, we really should be trying to get more steps in.

Its worth doing some reading on so called "healthy" foods, because often they arent healthy at all. For example an innocent smoothie has more sugar in it that a can of full fat coca cola. If you want to make smoothies invest in a cheap hand blender and make your own.

purpleshoes_2

And yes, be very conscious of alcohol calories. Even an 8 per cent bottle of wine will have around 600 cals. The higher the percentage, the higher the calories.

It is worthwhile swapping to vodka and soda or gin and diet tonic if you can tolerate it, or cut out alcohol for a while.

When it comes to exercise, if you really do want to burn a lot of calories, start doing HIIT, high intensity interval training. Classes like metafit, les mills grit, tabata, boxercise, thump boxing.

If you arent a gym member you can get workouts online, you may have to sift through some awful workouts, but you should find some decent tabata workouts if you look hard enough.

The way those workouts work is that you basically work flat out for about 20 seconds, with about 10 seconds rest and recover. The metafit workouts last from between 15-30 mins. You should be burst at the end and you might hate it, but it keeps burning cals long after the workout has ended.

Its something called EPOC, exercise post oxygen consumption. I do HIIT classes, I also teach HIIT classes and HIIT along with lifting weights has helped me change my body shape and increased my fitness levels massively over the last 12 months.

Im in my mid 40s and its been much harder to lose weight this time around than it was when I was 35 but I can say for sure I would not have got the results Ive got without doing HIIT.

Id also suggest buying a kettlebell, you can get them cheap from ebay (havent seen any cheaper anywhere Ive looked online) and you can do lots with a kettlebell.

Nutrition is really important when you are exercising, because if you dont get the nutrition quite right you might feel a lot better, but it wont necessarily show on the scales, but if you make a few tweaks, even though it might be a bit painful, you'll get results

Alcohol doesnt help with fat burning, because your body has to get rid of the alcohol before it can start with the process of burning fat

Of course there are exceptions, people who eat a crap diet and drink a lot and workout and look great, but most people arent like that.

[Deleted User]

Excellent advice that man ^^^^

pixnmix_2

Yes, fantastic advice, thanks Purpleshoes. I need to get my mojo back when it comes to exercise. I'm eating sensibly compared to before I started this diary and now eat breakfast every day, not just weekends as I did before. I'm also thinking that getting up a bit earlier on workdays for a run, rather than finding i'm too knackered after work might be the better plan! In fact, I'm going to try tomorrow morning..**gulp**

purpleshoes_2

Id say do a longer powerwalk if you are struggling with the run. You'll still burn cals if you walk at a decent pace. Im a terrible runner, I dont like it. Ive done a few tens, a few fives and a half marathon and two triathlons, but Im still a terrible runner, Id rather stick pins in my eyes than run on a regular basis

But I walk a lot, you are much much more likely to stick at an exercise you actually like, a good 20 min powerwalk would be much better than a 10 min run where you struggled.

(apart from HIIT, I also dont like it when Im doing it, I dont think anyone does, but I get so much benefit from it I wont stop doing it)