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Overwhelmed by dieting info (Read 344 times)

    My wife and I discuss this question a LOT and I have very little to add to everyone else. Like most Americans, I LOVE junk food, and unlike you, I gained about 50 pounds before I decided to do something about it. Also, like many in this forum, I have believed in the whole calories in / calories out concept. My problem was that as my calories out increased, I became hungrier and, in turn, increased my calories in. I felt good, because my body fat dropped and muscle increased, but my weight stayed the same.

     

    Since then, I have found two things that really seem to help me. First, I hate vegetables, Dead , but... I got a juicer for Christmas, and I have found combinations that are actually decent to drink, (which I do for breakfast). The second thing that helps me is intervals during my "cross training". I have found that on the evenings where I get my heart rate accelerated, then switch gears (in my case, I teach martial arts,) then accelarate it again, multiple times during an evening, (beginning and end of every class), my metablism chews up fat all night. As of the moment, I have not had similar results with running, but I am sure others have.

      Now, why wouldn't you get the same results with "running" intervals?   Have you tried? 

       

      How exactly do you know your metabolism is chewing up fat all night long?  Were you wearing a metabolic meter? 

       

      My wife and I discuss this question a LOT and I have very little to add to everyone else. Like most Americans, I LOVE junk food, and unlike you, I gained about 50 pounds before I decided to do something about it. Also, like many in this forum, I have believed in the whole calories in / calories out concept. My problem was that as my calories out increased, I became hungrier and, in turn, increased my calories in. I felt good, because my body fat dropped and muscle increased, but my weight stayed the same.

       

      Since then, I have found two things that really seem to help me. First, I hate vegetables, Dead , but... I got a juicer for Christmas, and I have found combinations that are actually decent to drink, (which I do for breakfast). The second thing that helps me is intervals during my "cross training". I have found that on the evenings where I get my heart rate accelerated, then switch gears (in my case, I teach martial arts,) then accelarate it again, multiple times during an evening, (beginning and end of every class), my metablism chews up fat all night. As of the moment, I have not had similar results with running, but I am sure others have.

        No, at the moment, I am fairly new to running, so I am still base building. I haven't begun running intervals yet. (Which is why I personally have not had the result yet.)

         

        As for the metablosim burning fat comment, I am basing it on weight. I often weigh myself before and after heavy workouts, so I can replace water. I woke up this morning three pounds lighter than when I ended last night's workout. Judging by the fact that most people don't lose muscle while working out, I have to presume that it is a combination of water and fat.

          Most people just lose water when working out. The other things you could lose are your lunch, through one of two ways.

           

          I think high intensity workouts are a great way to lose weight, but I think your method of determining the amount is a bit flawed, Comparing what you weigh in the morning vs the night before is always going to look like you've lost quite a bit of weight. I do it just for grins, and I almost always "lose" about 3 or 4 pounds while I'm sleeping. Now, I know most of that is water weight... not fat.

           

          The most accurate way is to weight yourself at the same time every day and compare. Or maybe just once/week... since you really can't lose that much "weight/fat" in one day. It takes a deficit of roughly 3700 calories to lose one pound of fat.  3700 calories in a HIT session is a LOT of HIT, more than is possible by most humans in one HIT workout.

           

          No, at the moment, I am fairly new to running, so I am still base building. I haven't begun running intervals yet. (Which is why I personally have not had the result yet.)

           

          As for the metablosim burning fat comment, I am basing it on weight. I often weigh myself before and after heavy workouts, so I can replace water. I woke up this morning three pounds lighter than when I ended last night's workout. Judging by the fact that most people don't lose muscle while working out, I have to presume that it is a combination of water and fat.


          Feeling the growl again

            No, at the moment, I am fairly new to running, so I am still base building. I haven't begun running intervals yet. (Which is why I personally have not had the result yet.)

             

            As for the metablosim burning fat comment, I am basing it on weight. I often weigh myself before and after heavy workouts, so I can replace water. I woke up this morning three pounds lighter than when I ended last night's workout. Judging by the fact that most people don't lose muscle while working out, I have to presume that it is a combination of water and fat.

             

            You really think you burned >11,000 calories while you slept?  It would be more realistic to attribute most of that to sweat and/or leaving it in the bathroom.

            "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

             

            I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

             

            zonykel


              Concur. It's not unusual to lose that much weight overnight (3-4 lbs). It's just temporary.

               

              Weigh yourself daily after you wake up. There might be some variability from day to day, depending on your level of dehydration. But over a long period, you can plot the results and see any patterns in terms of weight loss/gain.

               

              If you are deliberate in reducing your calorie intake, you should see results quickly (within a week). You will likely hit a plateau at some point and time, though.

               

              Most people just lose water when working out. The other things you could lose are your lunch, through one of two ways.

               

              I think high intensity workouts are a great way to lose weight, but I think your method of determining the amount is a bit flawed, Comparing what you weigh in the morning vs the night before is always going to look like you've lost quite a bit of weight. I do it just for grins, and I almost always "lose" about 3 or 4 pounds while I'm sleeping. Now, I know most of that is water weight... not fat.

               

              The most accurate way is to weight yourself at the same time every day and compare. Or maybe just once/week... since you really can't lose that much "weight/fat" in one day. It takes a deficit of roughly 3700 calories to lose one pound of fat.  3700 calories in a HIT session is a LOT of HIT, more than is possible by most humans in one HIT workout.

               

              DoppleBock


                There are studies that interval work will increase metabolism slightly more/longer than the same mileage without it.  My guess the bigger reason is the change in diet and more frequent exercise.  I find when I exercise and the type of exercise has little coorelation to weight loss or gain.  What does has a high coorelation is the amount of calories I am ingesting and the amount of excercise I do to burn them off.  Plus alcohol is evil in the fat burning equation.

                 

                Pretty much I have always had a fair metabolism and not much moves it other than the volume of exercise.

                Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

                 

                 

                DoppleBock


                  I have lost 14 pounds on a 20 mile run ... not much of that was fat ~ maybe 1/2 a pound at most.  Between water weight and glycogen stores my weight can vary significnatly in about 2 days ... as much as 20 pounds between beaten down. glycogen starved and dehydrated to 2 days of eating like a pig, and not exercising.

                   

                  Concur. It's not unusual to lose that much weight overnight (3-4 lbs). It's just temporary.

                   

                  Weigh yourself daily after you wake up. There might be some variability from day to day, depending on your level of dehydration. But over a long period, you can plot the results and see any patterns in terms of weight loss/gain.

                   

                  If you are deliberate in reducing your calorie intake, you should see results quickly (within a week). You will likely hit a plateau at some point and time, though.

                   

                  Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

                   

                   

                     

                    You really think you burned >11,000 calories while you slept?  It would be more realistic to attribute most of that to sweat and/or leaving it in the bathroom.

                     

                    LOL, no of course I'm not, but what I AM saying is that the HEAVY interval days are when I see the most weight loss. (And I only record in my RA log, the weight that I take at the same time each day.) When I combine my steady weight loss during the week, with the weight gain I get on the weekends (when I don't eat as well,) I have been losing weight at a fairly descent rate.

                     

                    My main points from the original post were: A) I don't like vegetables, so I found that juicing makes them easier to use, and B) I USED to believe in the calorie in / calorie out theory, but I now believe it to be FLAWED by variations in metabolism, caused by different types of workouts. I do not believe that metablism is a linear number that never changes. It is instead a function that does change to meet the body's ever changing environment.

                     

                    I appologize for using such a lousy example.


                    Feeling the growl again

                       

                      LOL, no of course I'm not, but what I AM saying is that the HEAVY interval days are when I see the most weight loss.

                       

                      The problem is, there are so many things that affect weight loss and the day-to-day variation is so small, that trying to compare one day's weight loss to another and pretend you have enough sensitivity to tell what makes a few ounces of difference is a fool's errand.

                       

                      Calories do not disappear without you burning them in some fashion.  Changes in metabolic rate....which can happen...do not change this, it just changes your assumption about how many you eat in a day.  But the difference may be a few hundred calories, not enough to make large day-to-day weight swings.

                       

                      Keep working to control your bad eating habits, juicing your vegetables, and exercising them away and I'm sure you will do fine.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       

                        lots of mostly good stuff here, just have to sift out the not so good stuff.    the basic premise of calories in vs calories out always is true in the simplest form, but as spaniel and couple others have said our bodies slowly change & respond on a regular basis.  multiple reasons why  our metabolism changes:: medications, age, excercise (or not), what, when, how much we eat, etc....etc.    we all have what is a "normal" BMR (basal metabolic rate) for each of us.  what our bodies burn just by being alive:  breathing, moving, sleeping, digestion, etc..  that can also change over time due to the same factors above.   if we eat 1-2 times a day vs 5-6  times/day our bodies will generally have a slower metabolic rate, so eating smaller more frequent meals (hopefully more towards the healthy side) will keep the metabolic rate moving abit faster & therefore burn more k's throughout the day.  all those factors affect the simple calories in vs calories out formula.  my issue is no longer weight as I am holding to what feels like a good  healthy weight for me (lost approx 50 lbs on a medium-muscular built 5'7" frame, over 5 yrs time) .  like alot of over 50 yr old active people its that extra bit of mostly loose skin (at least I like to think it is loose skin & not fat) around the mid section.  most people comment on how lean I am & need to add weight but they don't see whats around the middle.  ha ha   I wouldn't mind maybe adding 3-5 lbs of lean muscle vs fat lbs & decreasing that "loose skin".  anyone have any suggestions on that??

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