ExRx.net

I’m writing this because many people get caught up in the details but miss the big picture. If the big pieces are in place, the minor details really don’t matter much. This is about doing the 20% that get you 80% of the benefit. This is about the fundamental of fat loss. Fat loss itself should be considered an enabling factor, and not an end in itself. You main goal should be health and fitness. This requires mobility, which requires a relatively lean body. Of course looking good nekid doesn’t hurt either.

Calorie restriction
You can’t lose weight unless you are in a calorie deficit overall. In order to lose a pound of fat per week, you need to create a deficit of 3500 calories/week. Note that the main source of this deficit must come from diet. You can’t out-train a bad diet. As a “rule of thumb”, 10-12 cal/lb tends to be a decent starting point for fat loss diets, and then you can adjust for effect.

Nutrient cycling
While you have to, on average, be in a calorie deficit, you can’t stay there. If you stay in a deficit long enough, your metabolism will slow. You need to refeed periodically to the point that you are satisfied. This is best done every 1-3 days. Eating until you’re satisfied more than once a day will likely not provide adequate calorie restriction. Going more than 3 days could cause metabolic slowdown, or “starvation mode”.

Get adequate protein
Adequate protein is required to ensure that fat is lost, and not muscle. Retaining muscle is crucial for health and fitness. Remember that health and fitness is the goal. Muscle also helps you keep the fat off by increasing you metabolism slightly. Depending on activity levels, you may need more or less protein, however, the common recommendation of 1g/lb of lean body mass is close enough for most purposes.

Eat the right fats
There are several benefits to getting adequate fat. First, it’s satisfying. Adding fat to your diet makes it less likely that you will be hungry and reach for inappropriate foods. Second, fat adds flavour, reducing the blandness of the food, improving the adherence to the diet. Including about 10-14 grams of fat per meal slows gastric emptying and therefore keeps you satisfied longer. The type of fats matter. Omega 6 is an essential fat but it’s easy to get far too much in normal diets. You only need a few grams/day. Too much causes inflammation. It’s better to limit your O6 by limiting vegetable oils and focus more on O3. Getting a few grams of O3 reduces inflammation and supports fat loss. A few ounces of salmon will supply all you need. Alternatively, fish oil capsules will work but you need to make sure they’re not rancid. Saturated and monounsaturated fats are perfectly OK to eat but avoid all artificial trans fats. This is found in any hydrogenated fats. Stay away from any solid fat derived from non-tropical plant sources. (for example, butter and coconut oil are OK but margarine is not). Be careful with fats due to their high calorie content.

Carbs
As long as you meet the calorie deficit and maintain adequate fat and protein, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for carbs. For some people restricting carbs even further may provide some advantage but not in all cases. Carbs in the 60-200 g/day range are probably OK with about 100 – 150 grams as optimal for most people. Should you decide to under 60g/day make sure you keep your protein high and keep an eye on your thyroid function.

Those are the basics. Everything else is details. Some details I think are important are as follows.

Quality matters
Pay attention to the quality of your food. Variety makes a big difference. Too much of any one thing can cause imbalances and nutrient deficiencies. This link gives you the basics of a good diet: http://chriskresser.com/perfecthealth

Move more and Strength train
Too much to write about here and it’s a training matter, not a diet matter. Just read this and do it. http://startingstrength.com/articles/ba ... llivan.pdf

For more details:
http://www.theiflife.com/cardio-priority-fat-loss/
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo ... tails.html
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/
http://chriskresser.com/perfecthealth

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

man hug for you

Cliff, I read your post in the other thread after I had this almost finished. I didn't mention the psychological aspect of losing fat, but I would suggest you find something that you can do as a couple that doesn't involve food. Maybe going for a walk after dinner instead of desert. You need to build new habits and traditions. Best of luck with this. The hard part is up to you.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Oscar (or is your name actually Cliff? I'm so confused) are you any good at cooking?

The reason I ask is that you and your missus could cook together. That's how I got my girlfriend into eating healthy stuff; we would try and cook a new dish every time (within reason of course) and that meant we still got a good meal together which we'd enjoy, the process of cooking it together is fun so it was a bit of banter, and the fact we cooked it ourselves meant it was all healthy stuff. The one compromise I had to make was that we don't use brown rice - she hates it. Food is a big part of our relationship, we both love to eat.

Anyway that was a great way to get my girlfriend - who turned her nose up at the idea of eating my healthy food all the time - into eating healthy with me. It's something you could try if you're not already.

Thanks, Stu. Good summary!

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Neither.

My middle name is Scott though, true.

Can I cook? OMG..
Have you tried my hollandaisse sauce? My fish tacos?, My Meat sauce? My pot roast? Roasted Chicken ? And dont forget, I make the best scramble eggs evar.

The wife and I cook together, but that's when we have Tacos, or French Toast - been forever for that
She hardly ever cooks. [cliipped] I'll just send this last part as a PM.

Very timely Stu, this has been on my mind lately. My physique has improved in my year of lifting, but not entirely, my skinny/fat build from before has reduced to this absurd pot belly I have sticking out of arms and legs that are still skinny, if not finally toned a bit.

On Saturday I caught my wife actually staring at my belly while I was talking. This we might argue is something like men staring at women when we are supposed to be listening, and while some women may be offended, at least we are staring at something Mother Nature intended to be there. In my case, not so much.

I've rationalized this as follows: now that I'm better shape my belly is the hold out. Surprisingly, both my training partner and wife agreed, so maybe it's not such a rationalization after all.

Thanks for the post.

For many people the fat on the belly is the last to go. It's not a rare phenomenon. You're not alone.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I didn't get into stuff to try once you've done the basics but "Yolks".

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Ken you hide your belly well.
Stu has also mentioned liver and other organ meats for this too.

Any ideas for acquring and preparing organ meats?

I've added planks on Squat day. I have this crazy theory that if there can be "lazy glutes" then maybe I have "lazy abs" and need to get them activated a bit.

Let's say I've had my typical too many calories, not enough protein day

Is it better to skip the late night Cassein or go ahead?

I just dont have a good understanding of what my body will do with this protein (use it for muscle or go down the path of converting to eventually store as fat)
Maybe it depends on how little I've had recently ?? And to a lesser extent how intense and recent my workout?

Basically, my body may need more protein, but it already has too many calories...
As I read a little, I gather the body will first check it's need for the Protein and only then convert any excess amino acids to sugar

I have theoretically been under proteined most of my life. And other than not being strong (I also never strength trained), I feel sufficently healthy, albeit, I pigged out on crap and got fat. So, it's hard for me to picture my body saying "Oh thanks for this Cassein, we're a bit low". I see it more likely that my muscles go, "Eh, nah, we're good. We've been running on the minimum"

ps. Feel free to answer the question uniquely as it applies for both fat and thin folks

Your body may not make use of the casien and you really don't need it before bed, unless you're prone to getting up for a snack during the night. The protien may prevent this.

Start your day off by avoiding carbs and do that until your evening meal. That may help you with the overeating.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

if you've had a bucketload of calories then you should be ok without it. Carbs have a good protein sparing effect, ensuring all the protein you're eating's going to them there muscles

I do this to my husband. I suppose I thought guys were never bothered by their bodies that much.

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Diana
Goals
squat 150
bench 100
DL 175