Burning Calories - Weight Loss

Sea_Shell

Don't hold on!!!   That's cheating 😉

If you can't do it without holding on, it's either too steep or too fast.   Walk like you would outdoors, if going up hill.  Pump your arms!!

Grumpy_chap

Don't hold on, it is dangerous (and cheating as @Sea_Shell said).

At 33, you should still be able to achieve a flat belly   Won't be the case in another 20-years.

FWIW, I could never achieve any fitness goal without a target as I'd be all over the place.  Given your greatest desire is control of total body weight, you could use a tool such as the NHS BMI calculator to inform a target (and also daily calorie intake goal):
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/

Then log everything you eat - strictly.

biscan25

dranzer01 said:

I am 

6'3
around 113KG
Im looking to lose belly fat to be honest


From using the treadmill, it seems or should I say appears I am burning around 100 calories in around 6 mins - on the elliptical it is around 100 calories/4 mins

I do not run outside - I don't think I'm equipped for that just yet.

The elliptical will burn fewer calories than running. Running is the easiest way to burn calories if time is the limiting factor, although it is more attritional, particularly if you are carrying extra weight, compared with lower impact exercise, so don't be afraid to mix it up.

The general rule of thumb is 100kcal per mile ran. This as mentioned by others depends on weight (almost linearly), but also on pace. When I had my running economy checked, mine ranged from 70-100kcal mile, depending on whether I was running easy or hard.

Consistency is what you should be aiming for when you are starting out. As an example, aim for an hour total of cardio a day. Whether this is 400 kcal or 800 is less important, than doing a volume and intensity you can sustain and are actually motivated to do. As you get fitter you can either fit more into this hour (go harder) or go longer. This will be easier if you have someone to keep you accountable (SO, friend, PT etc)

Lastly, please don't be afraid to run outside. If you can run on grass or trail it's kinder for your legs than the treadmill, and a whole lot less soul destroying!

I was a decent runner (14min 5k, and running 80+ miles per week), but have had a string of injuries over the last year and lost my mojo, so am about 12kg overweight. Running (or cross training) an hour a day is all I will be focusing on for the next few months, until I can shift the weight! Also hoping to cut out the beer, but easier said than done! 2 weeks in and its 2kg so far!

Grumpy_chap

I was intrigued by the apparently high calorie burn the OP was reporting for his exercise so I just did a run.  

Treadmill reports 341 calories versus Garmin reports 256 calories.  I was hoping the two results would be near enough as to make no difference, but 30% is a large variance.  I don't know whether that is typical or which is more accurate.

I know the Garmin data syncs with MFP and the calorie adjustment in there for food intake seems to work well in predicting weight movement.  I am inclined to think the Garmin will be more accurate as that is measuring heart rate so has information on personal effort level.  That's just my hunch, though, and I can't support with science.

comeandgo

dranzer01 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

dranzer01 said:

So weight loss is all literally about calorie deficit. I may have been doing it wrong. I was going off of men need around 2,500 calories a day and I was doing a mental calculation of what I eat during the day (which is basically nothing apart from one meal in all honesty) , then Id do 30 mins treadmill and burn 500 calories.....

Saying all this, I think i need to get some sort of calorie tracker.

Does the above track/show your BMI? and the distribution of fat/mass/calories etc?

Yes, weight loss (or gain) is all about calorie deficit (or surplus).
You still want that calorie balance to be healthy, so balanced nutritional value rather than just chocolate bars (or shakes / protein bars etc).

You may well be over-estimating your calories burned for the exercise as it can be surprisingly low.  My last run I did 5 k in 21 minutes and my tracker says that burned 249 calories.

The free app I mentioned is one of the tools I use.  To get the full suite of information you are after, I use three tools:
 - Garmin fitness tracker / smartwatch
 - Renpho scales
 - My Fitness Pal (MFP)
Together that gives me target calories, actual calories and nutritional split, weight, BMI, body fat %, body water %, BMR plus other parameters that I treat as secondary information. 
The Garmin auto-syncs to the MFP app but the scales don't - there are more expensive scales that will auto-sync.  I did buy the more expensive ones but they were faulty so returned for refund and the cheaper ones do the job satisfactorily but I do have to manually enter data across to the Garmin app and not all data can be so transferred.
I log everything into the MFP app and trim (or increase) my intake each day to match the target very closely.
You need to spend time to set everything up (so accurate initial body measurements)

I got the fitness tracker at the start of the first lockdown and the scales at the end of 2020.  The results have been that I feel better and fitter than I ever was (even when 10-years younger), my weight is within a narrow band around target, I am more beach body ready (though that is a challenge), and able to do far more exercise with lower heart rate.  It has also given me more self-confidence through being fitter and healthier so I will put greater effort into clothing and physical appearance which I never did before as I'd have been mutton dressed as lamb.

As @Sea_Shell mentioned, water is important.  I also limit caffeine to max three drinks per day and now avoid alcohol except for "events".  Good quality sleep is the other key factor to complete the package.

Good luck in your journey.

Thanks for all the info and I will be buying all these things in the next days - 


Just to confirm.... If I don't eat anything in the morning (maybe 3/4 bananas and then I take a metabolism tablet and around 2/3pm i have a snack , go to the gym around 6pm, burn 500 calories and then eat 4/5 chicken thighs with broccoli) , no matter if i am burning 500 calories everyday on the treadmill, I NEED to be consuming less than 500 calories as I've just burnt 500 calories...?


I ask because my friend was doing KETO and I know for a fact he didn't go to the gym. One day he was quite big ish and then couple of months later he was quite slim with little to no belly... he said he was just eating salads/fish/chicken etc......


So I am trying to think even if I consume a whole load of protein (lets say) and I cut out heavy or all carbs/sugars/saturates, wont that make me drop belly fat in no time also....?

You are eating far too much rubbish.  Miss breakfast if you want but when you put food on your plate eat half of it.  Everyone seems to have huge amounts on their plates, you don’t really need much food.

Grumpy_chap

comeandgo said:

You are eating far too much rubbish.  Miss breakfast if you want

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It needs to be healthy and enough energy to support you in your daily activities.

Sea_Shell

Stats and figures are one thing, but if you "think" you are creating a calorie deficit and you still aren't losing weight, then you need to increase output and/or decrease input until you find a level where you start to notice it's working.

The amount of adjustment will depend on how accurately the existing input v output is.

Everyone's bodies are different.  OP just has to find their own personal balance, and then work on creating a sufficient deficit.   500 calories deficit per day, is 3500 per week, equivalent to a pound of fat.

You shouldn't really be trying for more than that.   Slow and steady, lifestyle changes, not quick fixes.

Also don't forget that a pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle....it just takes up more space!! 😉.    So you can get slimmer, without actually losing weight.

Trousers don't lie!!

Manxman_in_exile

dranzer01 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

dranzer01 said:

So weight loss is all literally about calorie deficit. I may have been doing it wrong. I was going off of men need around 2,500 calories a day and I was doing a mental calculation of what I eat during the day (which is basically nothing apart from one meal in all honesty) , then Id do 30 mins treadmill and burn 500 calories.....

Saying all this, I think i need to get some sort of calorie tracker.

Does the above track/show your BMI? and the distribution of fat/mass/calories etc?

Yes, weight loss (or gain) is all about calorie deficit (or surplus).
You still want that calorie balance to be healthy, so balanced nutritional value rather than just chocolate bars (or shakes / protein bars etc).

You may well be over-estimating your calories burned for the exercise as it can be surprisingly low.  My last run I did 5 k in 21 minutes and my tracker says that burned 249 calories.

The free app I mentioned is one of the tools I use.  To get the full suite of information you are after, I use three tools:
 - Garmin fitness tracker / smartwatch
 - Renpho scales
 - My Fitness Pal (MFP)
Together that gives me target calories, actual calories and nutritional split, weight, BMI, body fat %, body water %, BMR plus other parameters that I treat as secondary information. 
The Garmin auto-syncs to the MFP app but the scales don't - there are more expensive scales that will auto-sync.  I did buy the more expensive ones but they were faulty so returned for refund and the cheaper ones do the job satisfactorily but I do have to manually enter data across to the Garmin app and not all data can be so transferred.
I log everything into the MFP app and trim (or increase) my intake each day to match the target very closely.
You need to spend time to set everything up (so accurate initial body measurements)

I got the fitness tracker at the start of the first lockdown and the scales at the end of 2020.  The results have been that I feel better and fitter than I ever was (even when 10-years younger), my weight is within a narrow band around target, I am more beach body ready (though that is a challenge), and able to do far more exercise with lower heart rate.  It has also given me more self-confidence through being fitter and healthier so I will put greater effort into clothing and physical appearance which I never did before as I'd have been mutton dressed as lamb.

As @Sea_Shell mentioned, water is important.  I also limit caffeine to max three drinks per day and now avoid alcohol except for "events".  Good quality sleep is the other key factor to complete the package.

Good luck in your journey.

Thanks for all the info and I will be buying all these things in the next days - 


Just to confirm.... If I don't eat anything in the morning (maybe 3/4 bananas and then I take a metabolism tablet and around 2/3pm i have a snack , go to the gym around 6pm, burn 500 calories and then eat 4/5 chicken thighs with broccoli) , no matter if i am burning 500 calories everyday on the treadmill, I NEED to be consuming less than 500 calories as I've just burnt 500 calories...?


I ask because my friend was doing KETO and I know for a fact he didn't go to the gym. One day he was quite big ish and then couple of months later he was quite slim with little to no belly... he said he was just eating salads/fish/chicken etc......


So I am trying to think even if I consume a whole load of protein (lets say) and I cut out heavy or all carbs/sugars/saturates, wont that make me drop belly fat in no time also....?

You can't just lose "belly fat".  You simply lose weight - hopefully fat and not lean mass.

Your diet sounds unhealthy.

The bananas might be OK (although some people might question their sugar content) but what is a "metabolism tablet".

You need a balanced diet of carbs, protein and fat.  If your main meal every day is chicken thighs and broccoli it sounds dangerously unbalanced and will be deficient in many vital nutrients.

You haven't been reading any "dodgy" articles in Men's Health or on similar websites have you?  There's been some weird fad over the last couple of years pushing a chicken, broccoli and brown rice diet as the "secret" behind the body transformations enjoyed by some film stars in Hollywood blockbusters.  It's all BS.  The transformations are done by hard work in the gym and by using other methods to help them train harder and to build mass quickly.

You can buy a lot of gadgets or use apps and websites to calculate your BMR and how many extra calories you burn with exercise, or you can do it with pen and paper, kitchen scales and bathroom scales.

How stable is your weight at the moment?  If it's reasonably consistent and level then you must currently be close to a calorie balance.  Calculate your current daily calorie intake.  You can use an app or you can look at food labelling info and use a set of kitchen scales.  There's 9 calories in a gramme of fat and 4 each in a gramme of carbohydrate and a gramme of protein.  Make sure you count everything you eat and drink. And don't forget alcohol.

So then you know what calorie intake you need at your current level of exercise to maintain your weight.  Then you incrementally increase your exercise and/or incremenatally decrease your calorie intake to achieve a calorie deficit.  You monitor your bodyweight each week to provide feedback on your progress - or lack of progress.

As has already been said, a deficit of 500 calories per day every day will see you lose a pound of weight a week.  That is achievable and sustainable.  You might be able to increase your weight loss to about 2 lb a week, but anything more than that is unlikely to be sustainable.  The steadier you lose weight and the longer the period you take to do so, the more likely the weight is to stay off.

And you need a balanced and varied diet.  Don't think that concentrating on protein and cutting right down on carbs and fat will work in the long term - it won't. 

Have you got access to a rowing machine like a Concept 2 ergometer?  If you weigh over 110kg and you find running uncomfortable you might find a rowing machine easier.  At 6'3" and 113kg you might be quite good at it.  And it's great all body exercise.  But it can be boring...

Sea_Shell

@dranzer01

How have you got on at the gym since?  Have you tried not holding on?

dranzer01

Tried the other day - definitely was challenging, so working my way up to that