Cheap/Free ways to lose flab

flea72

As already stated, calorie deficit is the only thing that will help you lose weight. the amount of fruit you are eating is high in calories and the nut shot you swapped it for, is probably just as high, and none of it is filling

All exercise does it expend energy, which either counterbalances the calories you eat, or allows you to create a deficit without dropping food intake. Most people opt for a bit of the two, ie exercise 200 calories off, eat 100 calories back, creating a 100 calorie deficit per day. You need to drop 3500 calories to lose 1lb of fat, so it takes a long time

The biggest mistake most people make is to reduce calories too much, to a level they cannot sustain. If you are used to eating 2500 calories a day, dropping to 1500 is nearly half your usual food removed, that is going to hurt mentally as you will be so fixated on what you are missing. But dropping one banana (100-150 calories), is neither here not there, so you wont miss it that much, its also creates the same calorie deficit as lifting weights for 30 mins (i know which id prefer to do). If you find dropping 100 calories wasnt that bad, then after a week or two, try dropping another 100 from your daily intake. Small steps as so much more achievable. Dont set yourself too big a goal. Its taken you all your life to get to your current weight, so give yourself a realistic time frame to lose it in

calories are calories, no matter which foods you get them from. If you want to eat 500 calories of fruit rather than 500 calories of protein thats your choice, just understand they affect your body/hunger in different ways. Theres no such thing as bad food, theres just foods which you get more from, be that fibre, vitamins or feeling satiated.

Hurdler

Despite being a former athlete and exercising regularly, I was diagnosed in my late 40s with genetic diabetes, and the astronomically high blood sugar spikes I have makes my weight plummet.

A dour diagnosing GP deciding that I should just rely on meds and never try and self-monitor my condition, I did my own research and made a change to lower carbs and healthy fats (LCHF). I self-fund a Libre sensor and scan my blood sugars throughout the day. I can see instantly what is affecting my blood sugar.

I am a sports journalist so when I am away covering events, I am largely unable to control when I can actually eat, and restricted to what media centres make available to us. But when I am home I am very much more in control.

My routine:
Cardio is a mix of tennis, spin bike, cardio boxing, treadmill (I invested in a folding treadmill and spin bike and saved myself £59 a month gym membership). I work odd hours and so I can exercise when there are breaks in sport I am covering ...
I have rest days in Weds, and Sat/Sun because I work on radio, and so do Tai Chi exercises (free on YT)

I eat as low carb as I can for breakfast and lunch and most of the carbs I do have is at dinner.
If I can stay under 50g of carbs it is a VERY good day. Normally I can consistently be below 75g. So not quite Keto but it keeps my weight and more importantly blood sugar down significantly enough for me.

Example
Breakfast: Greek yoghurt, berries
Lunch: grilled bacon & poached egg, or a plain omelette, or homemade vegetable soup
Dinner: normally chicken, salmon or something veggie, use courgette, cabbage, cauliflower as substitute for pasta/noodles, rice or potatoes
Snacks: 1oz of cashews and almonds

As others have said.. find what works for you, and I find The MyFitnessPal app very useful for tracking my carbs, and logging my exercise, blood sugar, blood pressure etc.

Hope that helps.

Barny1979

Hurdler wrote: »

I eat as low carb as I can for breakfast and lunch and most of the carbs I do have is at dinner.

I'd have thought Carbs first thing would be better, as more time to use them during the day, risk the carbs would stay on your stomach in the evening?

falcieri

To track what you're really eating get a free app like MyNetDiary. I lost two stone using it. I've plateaued now and have started low carb instead (30g carbs per day). I've cut out all refined sugar and most carbs and get my carb intake mostly from vegetables now. The great thing about cutting carbs and sugar is that it stops you wanting to snack because you're eating food which keeps you fuller for much longer. A cake just spikes your insulin levels and makes you want to eat more. Inadvertently by cutting all that stuff out I've found my calorie intake in general has dropped dramatically because I'm not snacking anymore. Low carb generally means no grains, no sugar, very limited fruit. Dairy, protein and some vegetable are where it's at. I don't obsess about food like I used to and I'm a proper boredom eater too!